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Gwent Wildlife Trust is asking for volunteers to ‘go
nuts’ as part of a survey looking for signs of one of Wales’ rare and
elusive mammals. Dormice are quite small creatures, weighing about the
same as two £1 coins. They are bright golden in colour, with a thick
furry tail and large black eyes. Dormice are easily distinguished from
other mammals, but they are nocturnal so you are very unlikely to come
across them on a stroll in the countryside.
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Although we know
that Gwent is a stronghold for dormice, our knowledge of
dormouse distribution at a local level in South Wales is still
quite poor.
Gwent Wildlife Trust owns several reserves
that support dormice (for example
Croes Robert and
Pentwyn Farm) but we know
very little about where they can be found in the wider
countryside. This is why we need volunteers and community groups
to help out with a bit of detective work.
We want people to go out looking for
discarded hazelnut shells in their local woodlands and along
hedgerows. Dormice eat hazelnuts in a very characteristic way,
leaving the shell with very distinctive marks. With a little bit
of practice volunteers can learn to identify which nuts have
been opened by dormice.
Please send any hazelnut shells with teeth
marks to the Trust office with information on when and where
they were found. |
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Further Information:
How Croes Robert is managed for dormice.
http://www.gwentwildlife.org/reserves/charcoalProduction.htm
Basic dormouse facts and pictures.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/263.shtml
More about dormouse conservation in Monmouthshire
(from the Monmouthshire Local Biodiversity Action Plan)
http://www.monmouthshiregreenweb.co.uk/biodiversitypartnership/files/(B13%20&%20B14)%20Dormouse.pdf
Dormouse Appeal:
Please help us keep Gwent internationally important
for dormice. We desperately need the money to keep this work going.
See our dormouse appeal page.
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