[Yussef] I’ve never, never even seen a dormouse, let alone held one.
Absolutely incredible experience.
I’m Yussef Rafik, and I’m a zoologist and former zookeeper.
I spent years working with animals, so I know how tough but also rewarding
it can be.
But now I want to try some of the more unusual wildlife jobs out there
and meet the dedicated people behind them to find out if I have
what it takes.
Meet Ian
I’ve come to
the Isle of Wight to meet someone who protects one of the UK’s
most secretive and vulnerable mammals, the hazel dormouse.
Now, dormice are notorious
for being pretty hard to find, and they don’t particularly like the rain,
which is a shame because it’s raining quite hard right now.
But I’ve got faith.
I reckon we’re going to find ourselves a dormouse today.
First things first,
it’s time to meet Ian, who arguably has the best job title in the world.
Hiya.
Good morning.
How are you doing? Good to meet you.
Now, Ian, your official job title as a Dormouse Officer,
which is probably the coolest job title I’ve ever heard.
What kind of thing does that involve?
So what I do, basically
we manage a national dormouse monitoring program that gives us an idea
of how well dormice are faring in the UK and in Britain as a whole.
And also we manage the dormouse reintroduction program
that aims to reintroduce or put dormice
back from areas from which they become extinct.
I’ve been doing this for 20 years
and I must admit there’s still fascination in seeing a dormouse
and handling dormouse.
But also it’s a real appeal in terms of training people.
But ultimately it’s trying to help and conserve this very rare species.
Dormouse Nest
[Yussef] Despite how rare they are,
I’ve still got hope that we’ll see one today.
The Isle of Wight is one of their last strongholds, as dormouse
numbers have fallen by more than 51% since the year 2000,
and they’re still seriously threatened by climate change,
habitat destruction and changes to woodland management.
Dormice are a protected species, but licensed dormice officers like Ian use
artificial nest boxes to help monitor the individuals that we have left.
Okay, so there’s a dormouse nest in this one.
So we’ll get it off the tree and have a look.
So a nest is a good sign?
A nest is a good sign that there’s activity.
And generally at this time of year, you will find dormice in nests.
Right.
So a nest is a good sign. Yes.
And this cloth is just to stop them from
From running out and basically escaping out of the box.
[Yussef] Being arboreal, dormice spend most of their time in the trees.
They build their nest further down the trunk and hibernate on the ground
under the roots and leaf litter.
So, it’s a dormouse
nest, quite a tight woven structure there.
So that it’s mainly plant material they use.
[Ian] Yeah. Yeah.
It doesn’t feel like anyone is home I’m afraid.
Feels quite cold.
[Yussef] That’s a shame. Cool to see a nest though.
[Ian] It is.
[Yussef] Building a cozy nest is vital for dormice
because they spend up to six months hibernating through the winter.
They tuck themselves into a ball of plant material ready
for a nice snooze.
Footprint Tunnels
So after doing this for quite a few years now, do you
do you still get that same sense of joy when you’re checking these boxes?
[Ian] I think
to see a dormouse is a privilege.
And I think to try and understand their ecology, try and understand
the habitats that live with is is a is a lovely thing to be able to do.
They put a lot of maternal care into their young
and that long period of maternal care is actually a bit like us really.
Yeah.
We put a similar amount of care into our young.
So perhaps it’s one of the appeals for dormice is actually they’re a bit
like us really and, and also they sleep for six months of the year.
Who of us wouldn’t want to do that?
[Yussef] When they’re not sleeping, dormice are busy foraging through the trees.
So Ian uses footprint tunnels attached to branches to look for evidence
that dormice are in the area.
[Ian] Let’s have a look and see if there’s anything on this footprint tunnel.
So we can see some of those triangular pad marks down there.
So those are showing as dormice.
[Yussef] Okay.
[Ian] So what this is is a fairly new method, really, of a footprint tunnel.
So we have masking tape at either end, and the ink we use is olive oil
and human-grade charcoal.
[Yussef] Okay.
On the basis if it’s okay for us, it should be okay for dormice.
And these are then checked every two weeks.
So we record here because what we’re trying to see
is how widespread dormice all through this woodland.
[Yussef] So although we didn’t find any in that box,
it just goes to show they are in this area.
Yeah, they are around.
[Ian] So let’s go and check the next one.
[Yussef] What encourages them to go in the tunnels?
[Ian] They’re rodents, so they’re small and curious.
That’s it basically.
Finding the Dormouse
[Ian] All right, well I’ve found you a dormouse.
[Yussef] You have?
[Yussef] So we’re going to put masks on just to keep the dormice safe.
[Ian] Yeah, it’s just there’s some evidence of actually
that the humans have transmitted COVID cases to small rodents.
We don’t know if that’s true with dormice, but better just to be cautious.
[Yussef] Yeah, just be safe.
This female is getting ready to go into a deep sleep
like state called torpor to conserve her energy until spring.
She needs to be weighed to make sure that she has enough fat
reserves to make it through the winter.
[Ian] So the weight of that is…
[Yussef] pretty good.
[Ian] 15, 20, 24 grams and the bag should be 4 grams is 20 grams.
[Yussef] 20 grams.
[Ian] Yes. It’s a good good weight for her, certainly.
[Yussef] Finding a dormouse that’s a good weight is extra exciting.
As with climate change it’s now more important than ever that they’re healthy.
Warmer, wetter winters trick sleeping dormice into thinking that it’s spring,
meaning they can wake up early and either become too cold or wet
or have limited options for food.
Now that she’s been recorded, this female is ready to go back into her box.
Does that mean I get to hold her?
[Ian] You do, so first thing to do, is take your coat off.
[Yussef] Yeah, okay.
[Ian] Because they do climb exceptionally well.
You really don’t want them disappearing inside your clothing
[Yussef] Might take her home with me.
[Ian] You’ll notice my sleeves rolled up for that very reason.
[Yussef] So there’s no real way of doing it. You just…
[Ian] When she starts to move, she’ll move very quickly.
Keep your hands well in the bag.
[Yussef] Oh, she’s so soft.
[Ian] Okay, you happy?
[Yussef] Yeah, I’m happy.
[Ian] So we’re going to post her back into this box.
[Yussef] Okay.
There we go.
[Ian] They sometimes leave the tail out.
[Yussef] Look at that tail.
In she goes.
[Ian] And encourage that back in a bit.
[Yussef] Another way of checking for dormice
in an area is to look for evidence of them feeding with nut searches.
This is a fruiting hazel and I can see some hazelnuts around.
Yeah?
Know what, that looks like one that’s
been opened by a hazel dormouse.
So they make teeth marks that go round the edge of the nut,
because when they eat this, they eat it on the tree.
So they’ll be hanging on the tree
and pick the hazelnut off and sitting there on the tree eating it.
Takes about 20 minutes to open, take the kernel out,
when the finish they drop the nut on the ground.
20 minutes?
Yep.
That’s a long process.
[Yussef] Shortly after, we find another nest.
Have a good rummage.
[Yussef] So far we’ve only been looking for adult dormice, but this box has a surprise.
Surprise
So we’ve just come across a another nest with more young in.
These guys are really small they’re called pinks,
which means they’re only about a week old.
They’re very, very young.
But because of that, we don’t want to disturb them.
So we put the nest straight back.
[Ian] But this is quite exciting from my point of view.
It’s been quite a long time since we’ve seen breeding
dormice in this woodland, even though their habitat looks fantastic.
I suspect because there’s such an abundance of natural nesting sites,
that’s where they kind of are.
But it’s fabulous
to actually know they’re there and see them is really nice.
[Yussef] I feel very lucky.
Right, let’s go and see if we can…
Which way out?
Through…
Good question.
No I think it’s down here.
I don’t know how you find your way, everywhere looks exactly the same to me.
[Yussef] It’s time to head home.
If we can find a way out, that is.
We’ve come to the end of the day now.
And it’s been a busy one.
It turns out there’s a lot of hard work that goes in to being a dormouse officer,
and it’s really also made me appreciate just how many challenges
these animals face and why it’s so important
that there are people Ian out there doing their bit to help save the species.
