| Our correspondent lives in Malvern Wells on the
western side of Holywell Road and her garden backs onto
the woodland that covers the lower slopes. An overgrown
mixed hedgerow connects her garden with the woodland and
so provides an arboreal route to her bird feeders. The
animals were first noticed in early June this year and
were seen on most nights until some time in August. They
often appeared as early as 18.00hrs and remained until
darkness fell. In a nearby laurel bush, she found what appeared to be a dormouse nest: it was small, circular and contained pieces of honeysuckle bark. It is therefore possible the animals had set up territory within the garden to be close to a reliable food source. In most years mid-summer can be a lean time for dormice as most flowering has ended and fruiting has yet to begin. This, coupled with evidence that in some areas this year hazelnut production was particularly poor, may have prompted this behaviour. For anyone lucky enough to have a garden adjoining woodland, either directly or via an overgrown hedgerow this would appear to be a useful method for both helping dormice survive and for increasing our small number of recent Dormouse records. If anyone has dormouse records for Worcestershire (new or old) I should be very pleased to hear from you - please phone the Trust office 01905 754919 It is worth pointing out that we have no recent records east of the River Severn. Our correspondent wishes to remain anonymous. |
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