Dormouse Hunt

Im going to stick with the woodland theme again this week as I have had a recent opportunity to contribute to the management and ecology of one of our Trust’s woodland reserves. We are very fortunate at the Trust to get some great sponsorship from the Peoples Post Code Lottery that enables use to do many varied and vital elements of conservation work we would not easily be able to do otherwise.



Dormouse asleep with hazel nut cache

Briarwood banks is an excellent example of relic ancient semi natural woodland, this woodland along with its neighbours along the river Allen host one of the countries smallest, rarest and most enigmatic creatures present in the northeast of England, the quite ironically called, Common or Hazel dormouse.

There is only one native species of dormouse in Britain, whose basic biology is very different from that of ordinary ‘mice’. The hazel dormouse is a distinctive native mammal that is infrequently seen owing to its rarity and nocturnal habits. It is rarely caught in traps or by predators such as cats and owls, so it is easily overlooked even where present.

Dormouse with another favourite food, Blackberries, that are now flourishing now the canopy has been reduced in Briarwood

Moreover, it spends most of its active time high off the ground and passes at least a third of the year in profound hibernation, again making it unlikely to be seen by the casual observer. Dormice hibernate on or under the ground from about October until March or April. Formerly it was also found by woodland workers during coppicing and hedge laying operations, who would often take these attractive animals home to show to their children. The dormouse is therefore a familiar species, despite being rarely encountered in the wild.


The most northerly populations are in and around our site near Hexham which begs the question why? Well again it is down to lack of traditional woodland practices, inappropriate woodland practices, reduction in and poor management of hedgerows plus a general paucity of woodland in the north. They were however more widespread just over a hundred years ago with records from the main Wansbeck valley and river Font valleys.



Good hazel coppice for dormice

 We only know of their presence in Briarwood Banks because we have found their characteristic feeding signs as the last live one to be seen was over two years ago on neighbouring land. Through grants by the Forestry Commission we have been able to increase our woodland management to favour dormouse and with the assistance of the Post Code Lottery funding I was able with some very helpful volunteers to erect 25 dormouse nest boxes on site to assist our monitoring programme.



Dormouse box secured to a tree in Briarwood Banks

 It got me thinking though, of the past locations dormouse had been recorded in and would they still be there. The main reason dormouse survived in the present location was because the woodland survived, even after WW1 there was still substantial areas left because of they difficulty of getting the timber out. Very much why the woodlands along the Wansbeck still survive today too?


So if the woodlands are the same why are no dormouse still present, well that answer is simple we really don’t know because of the difficulties outlined in finding the species. Another reason is the woodlands of Briarwood along with adjacent lands have been in conservation management for x amount of years so they have been monitored and surveyed specifically more than other woodlands might be. They may well still be in existence along the river Font as there are plenty of hazel and honeysuckle plants, two of the dormouse’s favourites, but this truly is an enigmatic creature and without really looking very hard for signs we really will not know.

Hazel nut opened by a dormouse

So here is a challenge for all you budding wildlife detectives, go looking for gnawed hazel nuts, or stripped honeysuckle fronds. The hole left by a dormouse in a hazel nut is very characteristic it has a very smooth circular hole without teeth mark on the outside of the shell. If anyone also has a record of a dormouse, no matter how old that would be useful too, drop me a line because you just never know they may still be out there.