Dormouse April and May Update – Footprint Tunnels

Dormouse April and May Update – Footprint Tunnels

At the Cheshire site, we undertook a short survey in May of around one-quarter of the nest boxes.

At the Cheshire site, we undertook a short survey in May of around one-quarter of the nest boxes.

There was a lot of wildlife making use of the boxes (blue tit chicks, brown long-eared bats, bees, wood mice…) but unfortunately no dormice yet.

There is still time – it is still quite early in the dormouse season and we will be doing another survey at the end of June.

So, look out for a blog post after that!

There are now around 40 footprint tunnels distributed in the woodland.  We are getting many small mammal visitors to the tunnels, but again, there is still no sign of dormice.

Droppings found in the tunnels during the weekly checks are being collected for future diet analysis.

There are some tunnels placed in nearby woods as well, in case there has been any dispersal out from the original reintroduction site.

Now we have many tunnels to check every week, we are looking for volunteers!

We will be undertaking visits every Wednesday in June and July (as well as other dates later on in the year). If you are interested in helping out or would like to find out more, please use the contact form on this website.

Emma Cartledge