Dormice turn over a new leaf in wood

So far this summer 77 dormice have been found in nesting boxes in 340-hectare Chambers Farm Wood, near Wragby.

Adrienne Bennett, Forestry Commission Ecologist, said: “The figure only counts dormice we discovered in nest boxes so the true population is much higher. The project has been a terrific success with the creature spreading into new areas of the wood.

“All this stems from a colony of just 32 captive bred adults released a decade ago.”

However in North Yorkshire, where dormice were reintroduced in three locations after facing extinction, the picture is mixed.

Ian Court, wildlife conservation officer for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, who was out checking nesting boxes in 30-acre Freeholders’ Wood, near Aysgarth, where 35 dormice were released in 2008, said it had been a poor year, with the animals tempted out of hibernation early by good weather, then hit by weeks of rain. He said: “Early indications are that it has been a poor year. We are just hoping it is a one year blip. On the positive side we’ve had young and juveniles found this year which means they have definitely bred, which is a good sign.”

Dormice used to be common throughout Britain, but are now thought to number between 40,000 and 50,000.