Autumn is here and winter is approaching fast. As I write, it is still well above average temperatures for this time of year and many toads have been spotted. As it becomes cooler they tend to go into a torpor state, being cold blooded and are affected by the temperatures. They find a snug cosy place to spend most of the winter, like under piles of leaves or fallen logs. If the weather is mild towards the end of January they might start thinking of reproducing and make their way down to the breeding grounds. Bodenham Lake, one of our close nature reserves, is a popular breeding place and trained volunteers are called out, when the time is right, to collect the toads, frogs and newts from the road, to take them to safety. 

In the UK there are not many animals that really do hibernate in the winter. Mostly we think of mammals that do as the hedgehog, but there is a more elusive creature that hibernates, the dormouse. Not the edible fat dormouse that was introduced in the early twentieth century and is mainly found north west above London, but the smaller creature that is often referred to as the hazel dormouse due to its liking to coppiced hazel woodland and its food of the hazelnut. They also eat high sugar fruits, nectar and insects, and often are depicted in pictures on a blackberry. They often nest under the thick coverage of brambles. They are mostly arboreal (tree living) or live in tall thick, old, species-rich hedges. They are also nocturnal and that makes them difficult to spot. Their presence is usually identified by the way they gnaw a particular shaped hole in a hazelnut. 

Populations are found in suitable woodland habitats in the south and west of England. We are fortunate to have some of these in Herefordshire. The decrease in large suitable woodland has attributed to the decrease in their population. Intense management of hedgerows is another factor to habitat loss. To help the dormouse survive many conservationist have created the right habitat and also provided nest boxes away from prying eyes and predators. This has also created an easier way for those (licenced) people working to save the dormouse to find and study them. 

They are an endearing creature with sandy coloured fur even over their tails with big Disney type black bulging eyes. Males are larger than females and can be aggressively territorial. Some research has shown that they seem to pair bond which is unusual for a rodent. More than one dormouse has been found cuddled up in one nest. Never two males. To enable the dormice to survive a winter they have to double their normal weight of about 17grams to as much as 40grams and footage has been filmed of a dormouse squeezing itself  through a nest hole, a bit like Winnie the Poo when he ate too much honey at Rabbit’s house.