The Dormouse Monitor vol 1 2012 - People's Trust for Endangered ...

issue 1 2012Urban dormiceThe Hadleigh GreatWood monitoring site inEssex (37ha) is owned bySouthend-on-Sea BoroughCouncil and is a little unusualcompared with many ofthe woods in the NDMPprogramme, due to itsvery urban environment.The site is almost entirelysurrounded by roads andhouses and is well-used bythe public (and their horsesand dogs) for recreation.The site is now isolated fromother woodland, but partsof it have been coppicedover many centuries andit supports a thrivingpopulation of dormice. It isalso a SSSI and a successfulreintroduction site for heathfritillary butterflies.When dormice were first(re)discovered there in 2002,the Council were keen topublicise it and to engagethe local community intheir conservation, ratherthan keeping their presencea secret. They set up theSouthend Dormouse Group,which joined the NDMP in2006, and the group hasplayed a part in the woodbeing awarded Green Flagstatus. From the beginning,members of the public havejoined us on all tube and boxchecks (although the grouphas grown considerably insize and we have to allocateplaces each month to limitdisturbance).Despite the public natureof the wood, to date wehave had relatively littledisturbance to our nestboxes. Mind you, a ratheraggressive gentleman, whospent two summers living ina tent in the middle of ourmonitoring area and storedbatteries in one of the nestboxes, did cause us one ortwo headaches!In view of the high levelof public involvement,we tend to adopt a lightheartedapproach to groupcommunications and arealways on the lookout forinteresting and amusinganecdotes for our newsletter.While we do not mark ourdormice for identification,a few animals (withdistinguishing features) havegained star status within thegroup! Two of our favouriteshave been Lucky and Rosie.Lucky was first found in July2007. He was very thin andhad obviously been in a fightor two. His head was coveredin scars, he’d lost one earand half his tail, and one ofhis eyes was badly infected.In fact, he seemed so ill thatwe debated whether heshould be taken to a vet foreuthanasia. However, as hehad a healthy female in thenest with him, we figured hemight have been the victorof the fight(s), so decidedto give him a chance. Wecleaned the eye up as bestwe could and put him backin the box, not expecting tofind him again.The following monthSouthendDormouse Groupwith their dormicewe were delighted whenhe reappeared in anotherbox. He had put on weightand the eye infection hadcleared, although he hadlost the eye. This is when wedecided to name him Lucky(typical Essex humour). Wefound him again in bothSeptember and October, thelast time with two females,at which point we decidedthat he was clearly living upto his name and that Essexgirl dormice must like a “bitof rough”.Lucky survived hibernation,but his appearance thefollowing May was the lasttime we saw him. Still, welike to think that he has quitea few descendants living inthe wood.Last year, we came toknow Rosie, whose calmpersonality made her anideal subject for our traineelicence holders. Rosie wasidentifiable because of herstumpy tail, preferencefor two of our nest boxesand her extremely laidbackattitude when beinghandled. We found herevery month from April toJuly and were surprised athow calmly she always satthroughout being weighedand sexed. Her first litter ofthe year, born towards theend of June, consisted offour babies, (two boys andtwo girls) and we are surethat she briefed them aboutthe monitoring process, asthey all waited their turnpatiently and seemed totallyunperturbed by the wholething. We last saw Rosie inSeptember, with a secondlitter of newborn babies, andhope she will turn up againthis year.Membership of theSouthend Dormouse Groupcontinues to grow and wegain great pleasure fromintroducing people to thesefascinating animals andmeeting new characters,both human and animal!Karen Bigmore and SuePortsmouth, SouthendDormouse GroupKaren Bigmorethe dormouse monitor 19