Dormice – Not Mice At All!
by Angus, 10 April, 2009, 26 comments
These are surprisingly interesting animals which might turn out to live in your woodland. The first surprise is that they are not mice at all, although they are rodents. There are two sorts of dormice you might come across – the edible dormouse (Glis glis) and the native dormouse, sometimes called the hazel dormouse and technically known as Muscardinus avellanarius. The edible one was only introduced into Britain in 1902 and is only found in a 200 square mile area around the area near to where it was introduced – Tring in Hertfordshire. It was farmed for eating in Roman times and is still eaten as a delicacy in Slovenia, but in England it is protected and therefore, despite its name, is not on any menu.
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