July 2016 Dormouse Box Check

July’s dormouse box check got off to a good start. As I looked into my first box of the day, a lively dormouse appeared.

By the time I had got the box off the tree, into the bag, the dormouse had turned shy, burrowing beneath the nest. The nest itself wasn’t particularly well constructed, so unlikely to survive being lifted out of the box.

An unusually messy, loose dormouse nest

Often when active dormice are reluctant to come out of their nests at this time of the year, it’s because they have young they want to protect. So I took things slowly and carefully. Once I had established there were no youngsters in the nest, I had another go at getting out the adult, this time successfully.

I finally extracted the dormouse from it’s box

It’s always a little nerve-wracking, handling your first active dormouse of the year. The last active one I handled was back in October – 9 months ago. Luckily this one was pretty cooperative (and pretty) so didn’t make a run for freedom up my arms.

We weighed and sexed her quickly, then returned her to the box. She was 16g, which is not unusual for the time of year.

The dormouse in a bag, to be weighed

The rest of the check was less exciting – no other dormice and no new dormouse nests. The bees are still occupying a couple of former dormouse nests. The bluetits have all left their nests, but a couple of wrens were still nesting in the cosiest nests imaginable.

The pleasant morning was completed by a quick lap of a Cherry Fair (it’d be rude not to buy some cherries).

Hopefully next month we’ll have some signs of breeding to boost the local dormouse population.