About
dormice
Creatures
of the night
Dormice
are active at night, and sleep during the day. They rarely come to the
ground. They climb in bushes and up to the highest branches of woodland
trees.
Sleepers
The
name dormouse means sleeping mouse. Dormice spend half the year (October to
May) in winter ‘sleep’, with low body temperature, slowed heart rate and
breathing. Even in summer, part of the day may be spent in this kind of
torpor. It is a way of reducing energy needs at times when food is not easy
to come by.
Food
Dormice
eat pollen and nectar from flowers, insects and various fruits and nuts.
Mostly these are high energy foods and differ from the seeds that most mice
eat. Many things that dormice feed on are only available for a short period
each year. They need a varied habitat so that a succession of foods can be
used through their active season. Dormice are typically found in coppice woodland but also occur in deciduous wood, hedgerows, overgrown gardens and scrub.
Breeding
Most
mice produce many large broods a year, but rarely live longer than a year.
Dormice normally have a single small brood late in the summer, but can live
five years or more.
Endangered UK Dormice
populations have suffered a 70% loss in the last 25 years. There are thought to only be 40,00 Dormice left in the UK, mostly in the South West of
England and South Wales.
Dormice are a European protected species and are strictly protected by law and may not be intentionally killed, injured or disturbed in their nests, collected except under licence.
Surveyors need training and handling licenses from DEFRA.
Dormice are important in their own right but are also excellent indicators of wildlife hot-spots.
Dormice appear on the:
• UK Biodiversity Priority List
• B&NES Wildthings Partnership
• South Gloucestershire's Biodiversity Action Plan
See image gallery www.dormice-on-your-doorstep.fotopic.net
