Dormouse surprises at the end of the season

Ecologist Victoria Forder monitors the dormouse population at the National Trust property Ightham Mote in Kent, on behalf of the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme. Over the last weekend of October, 24 dormice were documented, a record for this woodland.  Normally between six and 12 dormice are recorded per month, but the numbers have shot up this October.

During the same nest box check, Victoria found one box with four torpid juvenile dormice, one of which was snoring!  (Victoria’s video is definitely worth a watch: go to http://bit.ly/s6Tk1s).  Dormice go into torpor during cold periods to allow them to conserve energy, and this is characterised by reduced body temperature and metabolic rate. Depending on weather conditions, dormice will start to enter hibernation from late October, when the nights become cooler and there is little food left in the trees.

In November, during the final check of nest boxes for the year, eight active dormice were found. In previous years, either none or one dormouse would be recorded in November. Due to the warm autumn this year, dormice have remained active for longer and have gone into hibernation later than is usual.

Dormice descend to the ground in winter and hibernate alone in a small tightly woven nest.