Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World
Created | Updated May 19, 2009
A quirky look at wildlife. To be taken with a pinch of salt, but with more than a grain of truth!
Sleeping Beauty!
No, not me, though the sleeping part would be right! I think I should have chosen a different nickname for hootoo— that of dormouse— as I am sure that is what I was in a previous life. I just cannot shake off the mantle of this tiny rodent, though tiny, cute and cuddly definitely no longer applies, to me at least! For some reason, thoughts of this little creature have been scuttling around in my head for days, so I thought writing about it might perhaps let me sleep soundly again.
The Hazel dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius also known as the Common dormouse, is about 7.5cm (3 inches) long, with a tail about the same length. It weighs around 17 grams (half an ounce) and has deep golden brown fur and a very furry tail. It has large dark eyes and small ears. It has large strong front teeth which it uses particularly to open its favourite hazelnut shells. It eats them when they are green and still on the tree, though the shells turn brown once on the ground. Often called the sleeping dormouse, the name comes from the French 'dormir', to sleep.
The dormouse is almost always depicted curled up in a ball fast asleep, but during the summer, being a nocturnal rodent, it feeds busily at night in the higher branches of woodland trees and hedges and sleeps during the day. In an ideal habitat such as coppiced woodland it feasts on a variety of foods, such as insects, fruit, seeds, nuts, flowers and pollen. It has a particular liking for hazel, hence its name, and bramble and oak are important to its diet. Honeysuckle in particular is important as it also uses shredded honeysuckle bark to make a ball-shaped nest in which it sleeps during the summer. Lined with moss, leaves and grass, this can be in a hollow tree, a disused bird box or a specially devised dormouse box, a little way off the ground.
It is one of the smallest British rodents and the only one which truly hibernates. It needs to double its weight before hibernation, so a good food supply close by is essential. In ideal conditions it forages no more than seventy metres from the nest, but has been known to travel much further. It sleeps from the middle of October until April / May, depending on winter temperatures.
Its winter nest is somewhat different as this is made in a thick hedge, at ground level or below ground, and is more luxurious than its summer abode. It will line it with grass, leaves and even wool, and it also has a little larder with a small store of food in case it wakes up peckish on a warmer night! Shades of midnight raiding of the refrigerator there I think. I am beginning to like this lifestyle even more!
In order to conserve energy, its body temperature drops sharply and its breathing and heart rate slows right down, allowing it to live off body fat through the winter. Sounds like a good way to diet doesn't it? In the spring, as the outside temperature rises, its body temperature rises too, and it becomes wide awake in about twenty minutes. I only wish I could surface that quickly.
It is believed they often live in pairs and between about May and September, when food supplies are usually abundant, as many as two litters of young are born, blind and devoid of fur. Four or five may be in a litter, although as many as eight have been found. The offspring eventually develop grey hair, followed by fur almost as golden as their parents' by the time they are independent a few weeks later. They stay close to their mother for quite some time.They can live for about five years in the wild and perhaps six in captivity, as in rescue and captive breeding centres etc.
Like hedgehogs, late breeding, poor weather conditions or food scarcity can produce youngsters too small to survive hibernation. Sadly, these cute little creatures are in decline, and while they do have predators who eat them, owls and weasels among them, the main reason appears to be loss and fragmentation of habitat, as woodland is managed differently or cut down altogether. The destruction of ancient hedge 'corridors', lack of coppicing or too frequent coppicing have all contributed to the decline. It is of course difficult to assess just how many dormice are still in existence as farming is now done more by machinery which means the animals are not seen in the way they once were. However, there are schemes afoot to improve habitat and make farmers and landowners more aware of their responsibilities.
I heard the other day that the death of an endangered bird recently was greeted with the comment 'it's only a bird' and this seems to highlight the ignorance today of the vital place in the scheme of things that each insect, bird or animal holds. For example the dormouse's long whiskers pick up pollen as it forages among hazel catkins and spring flowers, helping dispersal, the value of which is overlooked by many people. Seeds eaten are dispersed too.
Finding dormice is nigh on impossible unless you know where to look, but sometimes the unique appearance of hazel nut shells with a round hole and grooves round the edge are a giveaway, as are nests visible once autumn has arrived. However, seeking out dormice should only be done with care and preferably with an expert licensed person in tow. Should you come across one by accident then you should not disturb it, but note its location and inform People's Trust for Endangered Species.
Dormice are quite common throughout most of Europe but since the 1990s it seems that cold, wet British summers and milder winters do not suit dormice and this, too, seems to have accelerated their disappearance from many counties. The hazel (common) dormouse is so endangered that it is listed on Appendix 3 of the Bonn Convention and Annex IVa of the EC Habitats Directive. It is protected also under Schedule 2 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations 1994 (as amended) and Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) and is in the lower risk category of the 2000 IUCN Red List. This means that if you deliberately kill, injure, capture or disturb a hazel dormouse, you are breaking the law, and if you damage or destroy its breeding site or resting place either deliberately OR accidentally you are also breaking the law. The presence, or possible presence of dormice in a location means that it should be regarded as a protected area and approached with great care. Any work deemed necessary has to be licensed by Natural England.
It is a great pity that their disappearance means they are recognised far more from the Mad Hatter's Tea-party in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, as a cartoonish character, rather than as a real life, very precious part of our natural heritage.
Monitoring and releasing of captive- bred dormice has been very successful and combined with the relocation of others from wild, thriving populations, gives hope for the future. There have been sixteen instances of reintroduction in sixteen years, in twelve counties, involving 635 dormice.
One last point. It should not be confused with the edible dormouse (Glis glis) which was introduced to the UK in 1902. Also known as the "Fat dormouse" it is much larger than our indigenous species.
Certainly older ways of managing woodland are returning, and the re-introduction of hedges is bringing a significant increase in the abundance of wildlife, including our little friend, once taken so much for granted. With the huge amount of work being done in monitoring and re-introduction it may be that the hazel dormouse has a more secure future than first impressions suggest.
Let's hope so.
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