Sue Tatman inspects a dormouse nestbox with volunteers from the North West Dormouse Partnership (c) Tom Marshall
The Trust’s conservation officer and dormouse expert Sue Tatman has taken the local story of this rare mammal to an international audience.
Sue has been invited to address the eighth International Dormouse Conference in Ostritz, Germany, and will be highlighting the ground-breaking research undertaken on Cheshire’s re-introduced dormouse population.
The conference will see over 200 people from countries across the globe including Japan and South Africa, gather to discuss the latest thinking on the biology and conservation of the dormouse.
Once abundant in our woodlands and farmland centuries ago, the last wild dormouse was observed in Cheshire a few miles from Crewe in the early 20th century.
Almost a century later during the 1990s, a small number of dormice were reintroduced to a woodland in the south of the county – where researchers have been monitoring their progress every year since.
The study has been one of the few ever undertaken on a re-introduced dormouse population.
Sue said: “The conference is a wonderful opportunity for dormouse researchers and conservation workers to get together and share our knowledge on these fascinating animals. It will be especially exciting to share Cheshire’s individual story from the UK’s leading work in the reintroduction of dormice, with those from around the world.”
The hazel dormouse, focus of an international conference (c) Tom Marshall
Dormice – from the French word dormir, are well-known for their long hibernations, with British dormice known to take up to a 6-month snooze each year during the lean and cold months of winter.
The mice make up for this long period of inactivity by making the most of nature’s bounty in late summer and autumn, when dormice gorge themselves on berries and nuts in a bid to put on half their bodyweight to see them through the winter.
