Dormice

We were incredibly sad to hear from Sue Portsmouth that one of our long-term dormouse monitors, Karen Bigmore, passed away at her home in April. Karen has been a dedicated monitor and a well-known part of the dormouse community for years. She started monitoring dormice at Hadleigh Great Wood in Essex in 2006, training Sue …

The Blackmoor Copse Dormouse Monitoring Team made some surprising discoveries regarding the nesting material hazel dormice were using in their woodland during the hot summer of 2022. Blackmoor Copse, a 90-acre oak-over-hazel-coppice wood, is owned by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and lies deep in south-east Wiltshire. The dormouse nest boxes – which have numbered between 90 …

We’re partnering with Wildlife Drawing to bring you an evening of art and conservation, centred around the beloved dormouse. We’ll hear from Ian White, our Dormouse Officer, who will talk about our dormouse conservation efforts, including our dormouse reintroduction programme. We’ll then get some drawing tips from artist and wildlife enthusiast Laura Cuppage. This art …

Gaining key insights into how to manage hedgerows for dormice Recently launched, the National Dormouse Footprint Tunnel Survey will use footprint tunnels to detect the presence or absence of the charismatic but rare hazel dormouse in hedgerows. The need for surveying hazel dormice is clear: it is thought that their population has halved in the …

Bountiful supplies of berries and slightly cooler days herald the start of autumn. It’s a busy time of year for dormice, hunting for ripe hazelnuts, blackberries, or the odd sloe kernel, in preparation for hibernation from October onwards. The earlier evenings mean we could be more likely to catch a glimpse of this elusive and …

Bulgaria: conference host and home to Roach’s mouse-tailed dormouse Fewer than 30 dormouse species are left in the world, the surviving remnants of what was once a widespread and numerous group of rodents. Just three subfamilies remain in sub-saharan Africa, in Europe – from Scandinavia down to Sicily – and in Asia – from southern …

39 endangered hazel dormice are reintroduced into an ancient woodland in Lancashire This reintroduction follows the milestone reintroduction in 2021 that saw 30 hazel dormice (including the UK’s 1,000th) being released into a neighbouring woodland, creating a bigger and better-connected population in the Lancashire landscape Unique partnership of 10 organisations aims to bring hazel dormice …

‘Northern stronghold’ for rare hazel dormice created in Lancashire This week, a unique partnership of 10 organisations are coming together in an attempt to bring hazel dormice back from the brink. 39 dormice are being reintroduced into an ancient woodland in Lancashire. This reintroduction follows the milestone reintroduction in 2021 that saw 30 hazel dormice …

House building efforts in the UK are a constant source of contention. Too many? Too few? Whatever the case, it’s undeniable that development all too often affects our wildlife and the dwindling habitats they rely on to survive. Many of our species in our nature-depleted country are impacted by infrastructure projects. Yet there are measures …

An encounter with a dormouse During a recent trip to one of our Nottinghamshire dormouse woodlands I happened to stumble upon another wild dormouse nest. It was hidden amongst a patch of bramble and rose scrub that was winding its way up a hawthorn tree, on the edge of a young coppice compartment. The nest …

If you own a woodland or you visit one regularly, please keep a particular eye out for stag beetles on warm sunny evenings from the end of May to the end of July. You can tell us about any sightings via our Great Stag Hunt survey. Stag beetles and woodland habitats Stag beetles are one …

Winter is a great time to assess the health of your hedges. Without their leaves, it’s easier to see the structures and little indicators that it might need a change. Winter is also a great time for hedge management, both hedgerow trimming and larger scale rejuvenation such as laying or coppicing. Winter hedgerow management Cutting …