MAYDAY! MAYDAY! SLEEPING DORMOUSE!

[Leana Pooley]

On a lovely recent May morning I happened to glance out of the bedroom window and saw a strange little creature on the bird feeder hanging from a nearby tree.   I opened the French windows, walked out and saw immediately that the tiny beast was covered with peachy-coloured fur, including its tail.  It was a dormouse.

I quickly fetched my camera and took some photos.  When I looked again some time later it had climbed back down and was busily eating the peanuts.    Twenty minutes later I looked out and saw that it was now lying tightly curled up inside the caged base of the feeder.  Dormice have a habit of falling asleep.  During the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Alice noticed that the Mad Hatter and the March Hare were leaning their elbows on the Dormouse but she thought  “Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse, only, as it’s asleep, I suppose it doesn’t mind’”.

I was worried that a kestrel might slice down from nearby skies and seize the sleeper.  So I tapped loudly on the wire bars and shouted “Wake up!”.  Finally a black, beady eye opened and the dormouse gathered its wits.  As it climbed back up to the overhanging branch I noticed its back feet were yellow and looked as if they were made of plastic.  I have since read that all four feet are prehensile and that they can turn their hind feet backwards so that they can run head-first down tree trunks. 

Dormice are now rare.   They live in woodland and in summer spend almost all their time in trees and bushes, rarely touching ground.  After winter hibernation they love to eat hawthorn flowers and honeysuckle.  After midsummer they may go into another short-lived hibernation until autumn’s plenty of berries and nuts, particularly hazels.

In Penselwood we are lucky to have the tranquil wooded nature reserve of Moldrums Ground - perfect dormouse territory - which is undoubtedly where our little visitor originally came from.

You can see the pictures of the dormouse by clicking here.