I raked up a dormouse with the leaves!

[fairplay]

Another good site for those who want to know more: http://www.ptes.org/files/713_2006_s...se_monitor.pdf

Neil.

[type2tattoo]

Of course I am aware of the status of dormice and have a consultant coming to view the garden and advise me further before I do anything where there could be more hibernating.

[vole-woman]

I'm so glad you saved him!

[faz]

well done you and you are more than welcome to WAB

[Ian White2000]

We would be grateful if you could record your find on the National Dormouse database (NDD) at:

Dormouse Monitoring

we are very keen on keeping track of when and where dormice turn up at both nationally and locally. The inclusion of the picture is very helpful.

They often hibernate just under the leaf litter but as they occur at such low densities there are only likely to be one or two per hectare.

There is a licensed captive breeding group who breed for the dormouse reintroduction programme; depending where you are, one of the breeders may be able to take the animal in.

Ian White
Dormouse Officer PTES

[Billabong Karen]

Well done for saving the little guy/girl!! Were the leaves really going on a fire? Wouldn't they be better on a compost heap, or similar? I realise it's not your garden...

[fairplay]

If it was anything like one of the large gardens I look after, perhaps there were simply too many leaves and the composting sites were full up.

I used 10 large wooden pallets to construct 2 bays side by side and both are full with Oak leaves (with other organic matter added) so I had to pile them up elsewhere - trouble is the wind kept blowing them all over the place and I was forever raking them up again, so in the end had to burn them.

This year seemed to have produced more Oak leaves than any I've ever known - equally, the same with Acorns. We have 9 mature Oak in this particular property and I finally raked up the last of the leaves last week.
I don't know where they all came from - since mid November when they started to fall, I would rake everything up, but notice there are still just as many leaves still on the trees, and this was the same every week until the end of the year. A phenomenal year.

Neil.

[type2tattoo]

Originally Posted by Ian White2000

We would be grateful if you could record your find on the National Dormouse database (NDD) at:

Dormouse Monitoring

we are very keen on keeping track of when and where dormice turn up at both nationally and locally. The inclusion of the picture is very helpful.

They often hibernate just under the leaf litter but as they occur at such low densities there are only likely to be one or two per hectare.

There is a licensed captive breeding group who breed for the dormouse reintroduction programme; depending where you are, one of the breeders may be able to take the animal in.

Ian White
Dormouse Officer PTES

It is being cared for by a breeding group

Database done

[Meadow5]

Wow, what a lovely little guy. Just how rare are dormice? Are they so rare they are verging to extinction, or not so rare?

[fairplay]

I do not have 'exact' figures to hand, but it's the same old story of habitat loss with fragmentation being mainly the culprit. There has to be a continuation of thick hedgerows between the habitats to ensure a good mix of DNA and as we can see from this thread, they are very susceptible to disturbance.

Neil.