Monkwod Dormice ... doing well!

2012 seems to have been a bit mixed for dormice around the country but at Monkwood it’s been one of the best years yet!

Things started well with a successful grant from Peoples Trust for Endangered Species to help pay for 65 new dormice nest boxes to follow up a tube survey of the perimeter of the wood in 2010-2011 that found signs of dormice all around the wood.

10 of these boxes were used to replace some existing worn out or squirrel-damaged ones at the north end of Monkwood and the rest enabled us to set up a new run of boxes in an area of younger growth at the south end of the wood. The new boxes went up at the end of March and had only been up for a few weeks before we found a torpid female dormouse during our check in June.

Dormice hibernate fully during the winter but during the summer, and particularly during spring when there is less food around, they can go into a deep sleep known as torpor to save energy and so are often found fast asleep at this time of year. After a couple of minutes in the hand they will start to wake up but sometimes are relaxed enough to go back to sleep again! Instant winner of the ‘Cutest animal in the wood’ award!

Wood mouse

In July we found a few new dormouse nests but no dormice. However, the boxes were home to a total of 10 yellow-neck mice (Apodemus flavicollis) and one woodmouse (Apodemus sylvaticus). Apart from having pretty slummy domestic habits and making a right mess of the nestboxes, yellow-neck mice are widely believed to eat torpid dormice so the dormice often seem abandon the nestboxes in favour of safer natural nest sites at this time of year.

In August we found just one female dormouse in the same box as 2 months earlier but showing little increase in weight and we began to suspect that all the rain was keeping the dormice in at nights and affecting feeding and breeding.

We needn’t have worried though - by September the dormice were back and we found a few more nests  and two males and one female in another of the new southern boxes. All three were a good weight for the time of year and beginning to fatten up for hibernation. Judging from the weight and fur colour, one of the males was a juvenile born earlier in the year and a good sign that some young were being born and finding enough to eat.

Dormouse weigh-in

This was all confirmed last week in our October check. Apart from a few nests we didn’t find any dormice in the southern boxes but found three juveniles in one of the northern boxes. Again these were all at a good weight ready to go into hibernation in the next few weeks.

Many thanks to PTES for funding the new boxes and to all those who have helped with the checks this year. Particular thanks must go to the Trust for the management work during the last few years as the regenerating scrub patches provide excellent dormouse habitat and the population seems to be responding accordingly.

Hopefully 2013 will be even better.

Andy, Worcestershire Dormouse Group

Dormouse update

I may not have written a lot about dormice lately but that's not to say we haven't been busy...

 

Grafton Wood – this month James and me checked the tubes in Grafton woods as part of the ongoing investigation (in conjunction with Andy) as to whether dormice are found east of the River Severn (as currently it is assumed they are not present in east Worcestershire). Unfortunately, despite checking 100 tubes, we didn't find any of the furry critters. However,  two tubes contained shredded honeysuckle which is commonly used by dormice to construct nests. A further two tubes contained caches of partially eaten acorns, which is most likely to have been left by woodmice as dormice are not know to store their food. Fortunately further checks are planed this year which may yield more positive results.

Hunthouse Wood – along with Nick, we placed some of the dormouse boxes higher up in the trees to see whether this will encourage the dormice to use them. However, the May check of around 70 boxes and tubes did not reveal any dormice - although several nests of young blue-tits and one rather disgruntled hornet were found! So at least the boxes were providing nesting opportunities for some animals. We'll be carrying out several checks this year so hopefully we'll have more positive results.

Elizabeth

Dormice at Trench?

Andy, James and I undertook a nut hunt at Trench Wood on 11^th December but, in spite of carrying our searches of 5 x 20m squares of suitable woodland, we didn't find any dormouse-eaten nuts. However, as we didn't find many nuts at all, it's likely that, in this instance, this method for detecting thes presence of dormice was not so effective. Next year, therefore,  we'll instigate a tube survey to ascertain whether dormice are really absent from this woodland.

Elizabeth

Dormice at Grafton?

On a somewhat damp and misty Sunday morning (20th Nov), I trekked over to Grafton Wood with James, Andy and Veronica to search for hazel nuts eaten by dormice. 

After searching through five 20x20m patches of mature hazel coppice for dormouse-gnawed hazel nuts we had to admit that, despite an intensive search effort, we hadn't found any.. However, we discovered many nuts eaten by voles, wood mice and squirrels.  We even think that some of the holes had been made by a nut weevil!

Grafton is ideal for dormice so we'll put up tubes there next year to confirm whether or not we've got dormice at Grafton.

I'd like to thank John Tarburn for making some lovely dormouse nest boxes for my surveys at Hunthouse Wood.

We also came across lots of fungi including candle snuff fungus, green wood cup, deceiver and amethyst deceiver.

Elizabeth

PS In the meantime, have a look at Surrey Wildlife Trust footage from a survey of dormice next boxes 

Hunthouse dormice

We've found a dormouse in one of the tubes we put up at Hunthouse in an old coppiced area of woodland. It was a very sleepy yet healthy looking adult male of 19g weight. Nick Benbow (the reserve manager) was glad to have it confirmed that dormice are still present at Hunthouse.

We now will be monitoring the population pre- and post-breeding to get an idea of the number offspring produced - this can be compared with other sites or over the years at this site.  With a tube survey it is only possible to get an index of population abundance in the area relative to other National Dormouse Monitoring Programme sites. It is most likely that many dormice are making use of the numerous crevices and holes in the trees for nesting - hence the number we find in the tubes represents a minimum estimate of dormice in the woodland.

Elizabeth, Dormouse Volunteer

Dormice at Hunthouse Wood

Myself, Nick, Joshua, Helen and Gwen (most of us are Worcestershire Wildlife Trust members) undertook a hazelnut search of Hunthouse Woods in November 2010 and found five nuts that had clearly been eaten by dormice. This was the first record of dormice using the woods since 1983.

We decided to set up a dormouse tube study to monitor the size and health of the local population and send this information to the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (organized by The People’s Trust for Endangered Species). This information will also be used to feed into woodland management plans for Hunthouse with the aid of Nick Benbow, the reserve warden.

So on Sunday morning myself, Helen, Nick, Joshua and Gwen, along with Nick Benbow, his wife and Chloe Elding (a local resident) made up 50 dormouse tubes and installed them in suitable habitat within Hunthouse Wood. It was a crisp sunny day, which illuminated the woodland beautifully, making the work all the more enjoyable. 

We plan to go back to the woodland several times this year to see how many dormice are using the tubes.  We'll keep you updated!

Elizabeth, dormouse volunteer

Dormice success!

Just a quick note to say we finally made it out to do the final tube check of the year at Monkwood last Sunday. Brilliant news – we found dormouse nests in little Monkwood and in the main block along the north side of the road. Essentially, we have found evidence of dormice wherever we have looked & I think it's fair to assume that dormice are present across the whole site. Nonetheless I'd still like to 'tube' the rest of the perimeter next year so we know we have surveyed across the whole site.

Liz, Monkwood

PS Sorry, here's the boring bit. Please don't go looking for or disturbing nests yourselves and don't forget that dormice are a protected species and you need a licence to handle them.