Dormice

The National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP) primarily focuses on tracking the population of hazel dormice and gathering essential biometric data on this endangered species to assess the health of Britain’s dormouse population. However, dormouse nest boxes are often utilised by other wildlife. Over the past 20 years, we’ve regularly asked dormouse monitors to record any …

Ellie Scopes recently completed her PhD at the University of Exeter. She investigated how often and when hazel dormice are found in hedgerows and scrubby habitats in the South West. Her results are a useful insight into how dormice use these habitats and how we might improve our surveying and management of these critical areas. …

Setting up the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme The National Dormouse Monitoring programme (NDMP) was set up in 1990. It started with only 13 sites but under the guidance and enthusiasm of Pat Morris and Paul Bright it quickly grew and, within two years, there were 28 sites. In September 1992 the first newsletter, called The Dormouse …

Back to Beds for sleepy dormice This week, in early June, 10 rare hazel dormice have been reintroduced into a Bedfordshire woodland to bolster the county’s only existing population. These animals will help create a bigger and more genetically diverse population of the species in this wood, and is part of our ongoing conservation effort …

Following the county’s first and only dormouse reintroduction in 2001, this release boosts genetic diversity for this isolated population This week, 10 rare hazel dormice have been reintroduced into a Bedfordshire woodland to bolster the county’s only existing population. The release will create a bigger and more genetically diverse population of hazel dormice in the …

This June, we successfully released 38 healthy captive-bred hazel dormouse into a woodland on the Calke Abbey estate in Derbyshire. We reintroduced this new population of dormice in collaboration with Wildwood Trust, London Zoo ZSL and Paignton Zoo. Checking nest boxes for dormice As part of our dormouse reintroductions each year, we work with trained …

A landmark report published today [10th November 2023] by wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) reveals that Britain’s native hazel dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) population has declined by a staggering 70% since 2000 and have been lost from 20 English counties since the Victorian times. Hazel dormice are charismatic, small, native rodents with soft …

Bushfire at Roach’s mouse-tailed dormouse study site During the early autumn, we contacted our conservation leader, Nedko Nedyalkov who’s based in Bulgaria, to find out how his research on the Roach’s mouse-tailed dormouse has been progressing. Mouse-tailed dormice – or Myomimus (pronounced me-oh-me-mus) – are one of our most endangered dormouse species. Previously found in …

Benfield Wildlife and Conservation Group (BWCG) I was delighted when Yvette Austin, the environment correspondent for BBC Southeast, asked me if she could film the monthly Benfield Wildlife and Conservation Group dormouse box check. So how did this come about? I’m the chair of Benfield Wildlife and Conservation Group (BWCG) and my passion is sharing …

Butterflies and moths Jim Baldwin, our wonderful volunteer surveyor, has continued his 16-week long UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme survey in Briddlesford. He surveyed, for a couple of hours at a time, on two consecutive weeks in July. In the first week he recorded an amazing 699 butterflies of 17 species and then 590 butterflies of …

New research has confirmed that increased precipitation and fluctuating winter temperatures, as well as density dependence all negatively affects hazel dormouse populations. Worryingly, changing weather patterns – which are increasing – appear to exacerbate populations that are already struggling. The study warns that without mitigating these factors, dormice could disappear from our woodlands altogether. The …

Bid to boost declining dormouse population at National Trust Calke Abbey This week, 38 rare hazel dormice are being reintroduced into a woodland at the National Trust Calke Abbey estate in Derbyshire, in the heart of the National Forest, in an attempt to save this endangered species from further extinction in the UK. The golden-coated, …