Dormice are one of our country’s most iconic species, but they’re not just a cute critter. Dormice are an indicator of high quality, well managed woodlands and hedgerows. They require a good habitat structure and diversity of foodplants in order to thrive.

Our three-county patch sits right at the edge of the dormouse’s current core range in the UK, making it important that we monitor what is happening to their local population. The dormice we have are often at low population densities, making them both difficult to find and vulnerable to chance events.

Dormice are a protected species, making it illegal to look in a box without a licence. Luckily, we have some wonderful local volunteers who are licenced to work with you during these surveys. 

Brampton Wood nature reserve was the site of the first official dormouse reintroduction in the UK and is one of only two known populations in Cambridgeshire. We have a few hundred nest boxes up in the wood and adjacent hedgerows. We conduct monthly surveys here on a Saturday from May to October to monitor where they are, if they’re breeding and generally how the population is doing. This number of boxes requires a lot of keen helpers to check. Volunteers will be divided into smaller groups each led by an experience licence holder. Whilst sightings of dormice are rare, we often come across their distinctive nests, as well as other small animals using the boxes.  

Rockingham Forest, Northamptonshire has a few woodlands where we know there are dormice. We carry out regular box checks from May to October at Fineshade Wood and Fermyn Woods, both owned and managed by Forestry England. Ideally, these occur monthly, but this will depend on the availability of licence holders, since dormice are a legally protected species. These checks currently occur on a weekday and we may need to limit how many volunteers can attend each session some months for logistical reasons.

Please be aware that the chances of a seeing a dormouse are very low at all sites we monitor. The information we gather is still vital to their conservation at both a local and national scale. All results feed in to the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme. The surveys are also a good opportunity to meet like-minded people, see a new side to these woodlands and encounter other wildlife that also uses the nest boxes.

We are also looking to extend our knowledge of where dormice are in this region by surveying other sites in the Rockingham Forest area. This will be done by lending footprint tunnel survey kits to local volunteers who are able to then lead their own surveys (training and guidance will be provided). See here for more details.

Experience required:

None! Previous experience of surveying is useful but not essential for these surveys. All you need is the enthusiasm to come out regularly – even when dormice are proving elusive - and the drive to learn more about our wonderful local wildlife.

Commitment :

Attend at least a few checks each year - ideally for longer than a single year. This way you will learn more about these fascinating animals and increase your odds of meeting one face-to-face.