Dormouse seen on visit to reserve

Last Sunday afternoon we had the opportunity to visit one of Cornwall Wildlife Trust's reserves in the east of the county because there was to be a check on the bat boxes and dormice boxes in the wooded part of the site.

Shortly after entering the wood the party split up, Tony complete with ladder, torch and mirror checking out the bat situation whilst we and a number of others joined Steve to see if any of the dormice boxes were inhabited.

I think Steve said that there were some 50 boxes for the mice but the majority checked were empty. Some had moss in them as a result of tits making use of them in the summer for nesting but in one or two of them some now rather faded hazel leaves had been added to the moss indicative we were told of mouse activity. In a couple of boxes we found a mouse - a wood mouse, nice but not exactly what we were hoping to see. But in the end Steve found a box with a plump and surprisingly lively dormouse in it. This was a great sighting for us and we were pleased that Tony reported a variety of bats too including one bat box with no less than 6 of the little mammals in it!

It's good to report that Cornwall still has many hidden corners where nature can carry on with little interruption. Let's hope it stays that way!