dormouse

Picture a tiny, soft-furred rodent with big eyes, rounded ears, and a habit of waking when the woods grow dark. That is a dormouse. Most dormice live in trees, shrubs, hedgerows, and forests, where they build neat round nests and move quietly through the branches. They feed on nuts, berries, fruit, flowers, and insects.

What people remember most is how much they sleep. In colder places, many dormice spend a long part of the winter in hibernation, tucked away in a safe nest or shelter. They are hard to spot in the wild, but nibbled hazelnut shells can sometimes give them away.

Dormice are small nocturnal rodents in the family Gliridae. They are not true mice, even though the name may suggest that. There are about 27 species, found across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Most are small, with soft fur, large eyes, rounded ears, and a furry tail. Many species live in woodland habitats, though some can also be found in scrub, gardens, or rocky places.

Many dormice are skilled climbers and spend much of their lives in trees and thick shrubs. They build round nests from grass, leaves, and moss, hiding them in branches, hollows, or nest boxes. Their food changes with the season and can include nuts, seeds, berries, fruit, flowers, pollen, and insects. They are mostly active at night or around dusk, which is one reason people rarely see them.

Their best-known habit is their long winter sleep. In cooler parts of the world, dormice put on fat in autumn and hibernate through much of the winter, sometimes waking briefly during that period. This helps them survive when food is scarce and the weather is cold. Not every species hibernates in the same way, but dormice are famous for sleeping longer than many other small mammals.

Dormice have also appeared in human history and culture. The edible dormouse was eaten in ancient Rome, and the hazel dormouse is now a well-known animal in British conservation work. In some places, dormice have become less common because woods and hedgerows have been broken up or lost. When people protect these habitats, they give these quiet nighttime animals a better chance to survive.