Photography: Clare Pengelly
The dormouse (muscardinus avellanarius) is one of Britain’s most endangered mammals. This fluffy rodent can easily be distinguished from other mice by their long, fluffy tails. They have bright golden fur on their back and a pale cream-coloured underside. Once widespread throughout the country, hazel dormice declined in both population and distribution during the 20th century, largely due to the loss of habitat. They now have a patchy distribution, primarily in southern England and Wales with some areas of reintroduction in the north of England and Scotland. They are highly arboreal, spending most of their time high off the ground, feeding along the branches of trees and shrubs and rarely travelling further than 70 metres from their nest.
People’s Trust for Endangered Species [PTES] published a report, the ‘State of Britain’s Dormice’ in 2016, which revealed that Britain’s native hazel dormouse has declined by a third since the start of the 21st century. The report also found that hazel dormice have become extinct in 17 English counties since the late 1800s.