Dormouse Facts!

A dormouse is any of twenty-nine species of small, mouse-like rodents, ranging from about 2 to 8 inches (5 to 20 centimeters) long and weighing 0.5 to 7 ounces (14 to 198 grams). They are found throughout Europe, and they can also be found in Africa and Asia. They are usually dark or golden-brown with lighter underparts, and have large black eyes, small rounded ears and a fluffy tail.

Dormice that live in temperate zones hibernate during the winter, and the hazel dormouse (the only dormouse native to Britain) is particularly noted for its long hibernation — up to two-thirds of its life is spent asleep! In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll used this as the inspiration for the character of the Dormouse, who keeps falling asleep at the table.

Dormice are almost entirely arboreal (tree-dwelling) and are excellent climbers. They are usually active at night, using their large eyes, long whiskers and keen sense of smell to find their way around. They are omnivores and generally feed on flowers, berries, fruit, nuts and insects.

Dormice are featured in the following book:
25 Nocturnal Animals
25 Cutest Animals in the World!

The YouTube video playlist below contains videos about Dormice. Details of the videos featured are underneath.

The Playlist:

1. Snoring Dormouse with sound – listen by thamesditton46
2. Autumnwatch on Midlands Today – part one
3. The Dormouse by efcvs
4. Dormouse study on roadside habitat (central reservation) by lelo208
5. Signs of Dormice by BASCfilms
6. baby dormouse being fed.avi by thewildwoodtrust
7. Wildwood Dormice by thewildwoodtrust