About dormice

 

The common dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) is about 7.5cm (3 inches) long (head+body) plus another 6.5cm (2½ inches_ tail. It has orange fur and a thick hairy tail. It weighs just 17g (½oz), but may be twice as heavy before hibernation.

 

Creatures of the night

Dormice are active at night, and sleep during the day. They rarely come to the ground. They climb in bushes and up to the highest branches of woodland trees.

 

Sleepers

The name dormouse means sleeping mouse. Dormice spend half the year (October to May) in winter ‘sleep’, with low body temperature, slowed heart rate and breathing. Even in summer, part of the day may be spent in this kind of torpor. It is a way of reducing energy needs at times when food is not easy to come by.

 

Food

Dormice eat pollen and nectar from flowers, insects and various fruits and nuts. Mostly these are high energy foods and differ from the seeds that most mice eat. Many things that dormice feed on are only available for a short period each year. They need a varied habitat so that a succession of foods can be used through their active season.

 

Breeding

Most mice produce many large broods a year, but rarely live longer than a year. Dormice normally have a single small brood late in the summer, but can live five years or more.