The Natural History of Slapton Ley | Wildlife Surveys

Dormouse - Muscardinus avellanarius -
easily handled when in a state of torpor

Dormouse nest in nestbox
showing the neatly woven round shape

Dormouse in bag after being removed from
nestbox prior to weighing and sexing

Dormice

Dormice are relatively common in Southern England, but their exact distribution is unknown.

They are rare, nocturnal, sleep in nests constructed from shredded honeysuckle bark woven into a ball and they are arboreal i.e. they live in the tree canopy, normally hazel coppice, foraging on flowers, pollen, fruit, insects and ripe nuts.

One way to determine their presence is to look for hazel nuts as they carve a perfect circle, with a smooth inner edge, into the hazel nut.

As a result of there rarity caused by the loss/fragmentation of their habitat, changes in woodland management and the lack of knowledge concerning there distribution a National Monitoring Programme was set up. We are members of the Dormice National Monitoring Programme. This involves putting up dormouse boxes on trees or shrubs in various locations around the reserve in areas that are considered to be suitable Dormouse habitat i.e. were bramble, hazel and honeysuckle are in plentiful supply as these are essential elements of dormouse ecology. A dormouse box is very similar to a bird box in size and appearance, except that the entrance hole is on the back as the dormice live in trees. These boxes are then checked monthly between April and November by a licensed agent, (as they are a protected species) making a note of the contents. If a dormouse is present it must be weighed and sexed before returning it to its home. 

The monitoring programme collates data from all over the UK, with the aim to get long term data indicating variations in populations annually, in various habitats.