Dormice; rare, or just elusive?

I have been reading a very interesting and thought-provoking book! 'Living with Dormice' by Sue Eden challenges the accepted wisdom that the Hazel Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) is a rare woodland denizen, rather that they are a common, if elusive, rodent. Whilst her work is based very much in Dorset, it rings true with my growing experience of this gorgeous creature here in mid-Wales.

One area which seems to have been generally overlooked is the relationship which the dormouse has with other rodent species, particularly the Wood Mouse and Yellow-necked Mouse. Sue tells us that, in her studies, she has found very few dormice in her boxes in years when these other mouse species are abundant and vice versa.

This morning, I have been out once again with Nick Young from Natural Resources Wales, helping him check 50 boxes in a woodland near Forge. Last time I was there I marveled at the number of boxes occupied by dormice, but this time was even better! I will never forget seeing a bag of five very active dormice in constant motion! Nor will I forget my first dormouse bite from one angry mother, which, whilst a shock, was nowhere near as painful as that delivered by a Wood Mouse! In all, we had ten healthy dormice in the 50 boxes and a good proportion of the rest contained empty nests. Compared to my monitoring at Coed Pendugwm Nature Reserve, where all year only one box has been occupied (out of 100!), this is astounding and got me thinking.

I asked Nick whether he had ever had other mouse species in his boxes and following a check through his notebook, he confirmed that he hadn't. At Coed Pendugwm, I get at least one Wood Mouse during every visit and once I have had a Yellow-necked Mouse too. The latter species has never been recorded further West than Coed Pendugwm (in Montgomeryshire), so its absence and the low numbers of Wood Mice in the Forge wood could go some way to explain the good numbers of dormice in boxes there.

Thanks very much to Sue Eden for further opening my eyes to the fascinating world of the Common Dormouse. I would recommend that anyone with an interest in this species read Sue's book.

Healthy Pendugwm dormice

Another dormouse best box check at Coed Pendugwm; always a pleasure! The favoured box once again was home to a little family of dormice. This box appears to be favoured this year, containing this elusive creature during every check, four months in a row!

Last month, a mother with three closed-eyed youngsters, were a very pleasant surprise. I'm happy to say that this month the family are still doing well. Now juveniles of approximately 6 weeks old, two males and one female, they are nearly as big as mum (10.5g to her 16.5g).

Once the weighing and sexing was complete, the family were 'posted' back in to their box. By the time it was Mum's turn, she'd got quite sleepy and was certainly in no hurry to check on her family!

Weasel

Two cheeky little weasels on Cors Dyfi yesterday afternoon.

The cold March has been devastating on many of our mammals here, thankfully not these two.

When a weasel got caught in a Longworth trap...

Great video of a Weasel coming out of a Longworth Trap, by Amanda Wilson:

These fantastic little mustelids do occasionally get in to these small mammal traps, which proves just how small there are!

Hog attack

It's Hedgehogs again, but how could I not post this amazing footage of a vicious attack which took place over my feeder, in the early hours of this morning!

I can confirm that both walked away seemingly unhurt!

Merlin & the Hedgehog

I know it is another post about Hedgehogs, but when you can get such great views of them right by your back door, it is hard not to be entranced! This time I would like to share a moment from last night when my old dog, Merlin, showed how dogs and Hedgehogs can mix!

It's a good job my other dog, Cerrig, was out with me (Glow-worm hunting!), as he is not so tolerant. After two years, he is still frightened of them and would have been shrieking his head off, had he been there!

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.