D Day

No, not the military landings, but a 'landing' for me... today I handled my first ever dormouse! In fact, by the end of the morning, I'd had the pleasure of six of these cutest of all mammals in my hand! If you think they look cute in photos...

...you should see them in the flesh! And their fur feels soooo soft.

Five of the six were, like the one above, very sleepy and endearingly snuggled into my hand, whilst the sixth nearly escaped, she was so active!

Out of 50 boxes, 6 dormice is a good number to find. This delightful patch of woodland, near Machynlleth, obviously provides all they need.

Many people will be aware that the Hazel Dormouse receives the highest level of legal protection in the UK, meaning you need a licence to even look in the nest boxes, let alone handle them. As I am currently working towards my licence, I am very grateful to Nick Young for sharing this experience with me today.