Dormouse ‘Nutters’ Wanted!

People are needed to help the Carmarthenshire Biodiversity Partnership with a nutty autumn survey.

The partnership wants to find out as much as possible about the rare and secretive dormouse. They need lots of people to help in the annual search for signs of one of Carmarthenshire’s most special mammals.

Like the dormouse immortalised in Alice in Wonderland, dormice spend a lot of time asleep – over three-quarters of their lifetime – and are rarely seen.

To track down where they are found it is best to look for signs of their favourite food – hazelnuts.

Dormice leave very distinctive gnaw marks on the shells, different from other mice or voles, there is aleaflet available to help identify dormouse nuts.

People need to look for the nibbled nuts in a hazel-rich wood or hedgerow and let the Partnership know what they find. They are especially keen to find out if dormice live in the Ammanford area.

There is also the opportunity to join the Great Nut Hunt team of ‘Nutters’ at the Llyn Llech Owain Country Park on Saturday October 6, or at Mynydd Mawr Country Park on Saturday October 13.

Both events take place between10am and 12:30pm and participants can join experts for a walk to look at where dormice like to live and learn more about this elusive mammal.

One Carmarthenshire dormouse group in the county has a Facebook page – to find out more search Carmarthenshire Dormice.

Carmarthenshire County Council’s Biodiversity Officer, Isabel Macho, said: “The dormouce may be one of our most elusive mammals but their signs are some of the easiest to identify and this is a survey that everyone can get involved with. We need all the detectives we can get so we can find out as much as possible about where this rare and beautiful animal lives in the county.”

For more information please contact Isabel Macho on 01558 825390 or email IMacho@carmarthenshire.gov.uk.