Conservation & Ecology
“ “ 126 I PC APRIL/MAY 2018
My dad used to talk about using mercury on the greens, which you wouldn’t dream of now. Today’s fungicides are regulated and safer to use through COSHH and risk assessments
stewardship is key in reducing resistance.” “My dad used to talk about using mercury on the greens [he laughed], which you wouldn’t dream of now. Today’s fungicides are regulated and safer to use through COSHH and risk assessments.”
Dormice
Because of their elusiveness, their quirks and their mystery, in this forthcoming section we will be learning about dormice, and how to keep them safe if they show any signs of habitation.
It’s important to note that this information will usually use the term ‘dormouse’ to refer implicitly to the life of the ‘common/hazel dormouse’, which is native to the UK and is the animal most often referenced by the term. Including the ‘hazel’, there are at least 49 types of extant dormouse.
Mythology
And they aren’t considered mysterious without reason. Their size, habits, spread and lack of relatives all add to their mystique ‐ the information contained here is near the extent of public knowledge about the sneaky fuzzballs.
Dormice in temperate zones will hibernate for at least six months out of every year. This will often be for longer if the weather continues to be too cold for their shallow fat deposits
Perhaps the most famous example of a dormouse globally, as is the case with so many animals, is a fictional and anthropomorphic one; in this case, The Dormouse from Lewis Carroll’s landmark children’s book, ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’.
Its portrayal in the story was important to the public understanding of the animal’s signature behaviour: that it sleeps often. In Chapter VII of the book, this necessitates the ability for it to talk in its sleep, and The March Hare and The Hatter bully it whilst it’s unconscious.
This character was referenced and further popularised in Jefferson Airplane’s 1960s pop masterpiece ‘White Rabbit’, which advises its listener to ‘remember what the dormouse said: “feed your head”.’
Hibernation & Etymology
That sleepiness is the reason the dormouse is so called. Rather than being named for its visual and genetic similarity to mice, as is sometimes thought, it was named for its tendency to hibernate, based on the word stem ‘dormir’, which is the French verb ‘to sleep’.
Dormice in temperate zones will hibernate for at least six months out of every year. This will often be for longer if the weather continues to be too cold for their shallow fat deposits.
As well as their long hibernation, they sometimes require a miniature one called a ‘torpor’, whenever it gets cold, wet or food is difficult to come by ‐ a very vulnerable or, depending on one’s attitude, perhaps even fussy, creature.
The talking point here continues to be that, somewhat amazingly, experts still do not know where they hibernate. The People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), a UK organisation, is working hard to discover this, as it is thought few dormice survive each winter.
Status
They are even training search dogs to seek out hibernation spots, in the hopes of improving methods of protecting the sleepy creatures.
This is all because their numbers are declining, as is their viable range. Although they are globally considered safe, in the UK they are officially viewed as vulnerable to extinction.
According to PTES, they are also “a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan… protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.”
Evolution
Dormice are small rodents, and are semi‐ closely related to squirrels and mice, but in extreme genetic similarity with no known species.
They are one of the oldest forms of
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