Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius)
There are two species of dormouse in Britain; the common or hazel dormouse known in large parts of Europe as the sleeping mouse, and the Fat or Edible dormouse which seems to have been imported by the Romans for food, hence the name.
The information below refers to the common dormouse.
Over the 20 years we have owned and managed Little Hyden Wood we have carried out a number of surveys to help us understand the dormouse population and its spread.
The most recent survey is being carried out on behalf of the National grid, to understand the affect there latest work has had on the population. this has thrown up some interesting informaion about the numbers of dormice we have here in little hyden wood as well as their spread.
The difficulty with surveying for dormice is that they are and highly protected species and a licence is needed to handle them. The method most commonly used to survey for dormice to place nest boxes around the woodland and then check these for signs of activity over the active period between may and November. You can also look for opened nuts as dormice have a very distinct method of opening them
The nest in the picture above was found during coppicing work in the winter of 2006/07. It is a summer nest we believe to have been blown from a tree during winter storms and no dormice were using it at the time.
For more information on the Autecology of the hazel dormouse please look at the BBC web site. Click the link to view the site.
There is also a new English Nature (Natural England) Handbook on dormouse conservation available as a PDF file from Hampshire county councils woodland News page.