2009 dormouse release
On June 15th 2009 twenty five young hazel dormice were released into a wood ‘somewhere in Warwickshire’. There were 11 males and 14 females so some of the females will find that they are sharing a mate when they emerge from their nest boxes! The animals had come from several private breeders and wild animal parks, all part of the Common Dormouse Captive Breeders Group – a slight misnomer considering they are no longer a common species – to ensure that the new population has a mixture of genes. This is an exciting event for Warwickshire as the dormouse has recently only been recorded from six woods in the county.
This reintroduction, one of 17 organised by People’s Trust for Endangered Species and Natural England, was attended by local naturalists who helped to construct the large cages that the dormice will live in until they get used to their new surroundings. They will be given fruit, seeds and water every day and after two weeks the doors will be left open so that they can start to live independently in their new woodland.
200 nest boxes have been put up in the wood for these tiny mammals to nest and breed so that by the autumn there will be a lot more animals. To find out what has happened over the summer the boxes will be checked in September and October and any individuals found will be scanned – as the dormice have been micro-chipped it will be possible to find out who they are and how far they have travelled from their cages – and weighed. It is hoped that any young born to these 25 adults this year will have enough time to fatten up over the summer and autumn to survive hibernation over winter and increase next year’s total of breeding adults.
The wood is managed by coppicing which cuts some of the trees, particularly hazel, at ground level and keeps areas of the canopy open. The entry of light allows a variety of woodland plants to grow and produce food and nesting materials for the dormice. They will need a supply of insects, flowers, fruit and nuts until the winter when they will hibernate under the leaf litter until Spring.
In total PTES has released over 600 dormice into 12 counties. At three of the reintroduction sites the animals have spread out of the woodlands they were released in, into the surrounding countryside – a great success.
The dormouse is a protected species as it is very scarce, owing to the recent lack of management of woodlands in England and Wales since the Second World War. It is the subject of a national Biodiversity Action Plan and also one of the 50 action plans in the Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull Local Biodiversity Action Plan.
Ruth Moffatt
Warwickshire Dormouse Group
Posted on 22nd June, 2009, updated on 14th July, 2009
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