Dormice

Many animals exhibit similar patterns of behaviour throughout the year, whilst others dramatically change theirs with the changing seasons. Hazel dormice, which are usually reluctant to come to the ground during their active season, make a beeline for the forest floor when it’s time to hibernate. Searching for nests Those of us lucky to monitor …

Population trends and the NDMP Hazel dormouse numbers have been declining in England and Wales throughout the last century. As a result of this alarming trend, they’ve been listed as Vulnerable on the British Red List for Mammals. The Red List is a measure of how likely a species is to go extinct. It’s a …

Using dormouse records sent in to the  National Dormouse Monitoring Programme, we’ve been creating a map showing suitable habitat for hazel dormice projected across England. We can then use this map to help work out the best places to release dormice or to identify areas where dormice are most likely to be found. Developing a …

Hazel dormice class licence CL10a, CL10b survey returns are due to be sent to Natural England from 4th January 2022. This year Natural England is introducing two changes which include new online forms and a £35 charge for continued registration (with exemptions for voluntary use for NDMP monitors). New online forms In October, Natural England introduced …

Windsor Safari Park Hazel dormice have always been secretive creatures. Not much was known about them until Dr Pat Morris and Dr Paul Bright began studying the species in the wild to learn more about their habits. It quickly became clear that the species wasn’t doing well. As part of wider conservation plans, a new …

The woodland home Hazel dormice are well-known for their sleepy habits and are always on the look out for somewhere to snooze. We put wooden nest boxes in woodlands where they live which provides extra places for them to take a nap, as well as a useful way for us to count them regularly and …

Last summer we put out our Fingle Woods CCTV wildlife camera kits once again, to learn more about our hazel dormice. Last time we set them up, in 2018, we detected some fascinating behaviour that wouldn’t have been possible to observe using standard nest monitoring methods. We saw dormice spend time grooming their coats and …

Negative records are important Finding hazel dormice isn’t easy. And it’s even more difficult to prove that they’re absent from a particular patch. But dormice are protected in law. So, when new houses are built or roads expanded, the developers must ensure that any hedges, shrubby habitat or woodlands that are likely to be disturbed …

David Talbot describes his experience volunteering this summer with the Back On Our Map (BOOM), Natural England and Morecambe Bay Partnership (MBP) during the landmark release of the 1000th hazel dormouse in Britain, as part of PTES’ National Dormouse Reintroduction Programme. Getting involved in citizen science My experience as a volunteer started pre Covid-19 in …

Our nature reserve on the Isle of Wight, Briddlesford Woods, is an ancient woodland which has a rich array of woodland flora and rare invertebrates, but is best known for its unique assemblage of mammals. It provides a home for red squirrels, 9 bat species and hazel dormice. This means we have to balance the …

Dormice reintroduction June 2021 We were delighted to team up with various partners to release the 1000th hazel dormouse in Lancashire last week. Thirty animals were released into a woodland in the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (a nationally protected landscape covering parts of north Lancashire and south Cumbria). Reintroductions are crucial …

Along with our partners at Natural England, PTES collate records from over 400 dormouse monitoring sites across the UK. The NDMP now has hundreds of trained monitors regularly checking dormouse boxes throughout the year. We’re extremely grateful to all our dormouse monitors for their great contribution to dormouse conservation. How long have you been monitoring for? …