Hi everybody, sorry it’s been so long since the last newsletter, I spend so much time in front of the computer these days it’s hard to do even more of it to write this. Anyway we’ve had lots going on this summer so here’s a summary and a list of the dormouse activities that will be going on in Carmarthenshire over the winter. For anyone who wants to get involved or would like to know more about dormice contact me, Jacqueline at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . If anyone has any information on Dormice or would like to let me know what they are doing for Dormice in the County, I’d love to hear from you.

Rhos Cefn Bryn

We did the April and May monitoring at Rhos Cefn Bryn this year then Jan Crowden took over for the rest of the year. The Dormice at the site have had a great year. Early on in the year we found a female with the fur removed from her tail, see photie. I apologies for those of a more squeamish nature, but it’s seen so rarely I had to add it in. You normally just see Dormice with a short tail where the tail bone has fallen off and it’s all healed up. So the Dormouse in the picture will be fine but it’s an important reminder of why you should not pick up Dormice by their tails! If you pick them up by the tail, you get this effect! Not good! This one probably lost its tail in a fight but it’s unusual that it’s a female. Normally males do that sort of thing.

The drainpipes have been a huge success and we’ve had two litters of young in the drainpipes this year! No litters in the traditional wooden boxes. We’ve not seen young with mothers for a couple of years so that’s great.

Monitoring at the site will continue next year but I’m not sure who will be the main person to take that on as yet. It will however remain the location to get valuable handling experience for those who want to get their licences. The only requirement is that people use any licenses gained to help monitor at one of the Carmarthenshire sites or start a new one. Just get in touch with me if you would like to get a license.

National Botanic Gardens

Rhian Lewis continued to check the boxes at the gardens but no use by Dormice yet. A nice little surprise during the October check was provided by a bat in one of the boxes. Anna Hobbs, Rhian, Paul and I made a visit to the Gardens in October to look at where to put the Gardens new boxes. They should be making some drainpipe ones which will also be put up over the winter.

Bryndias

Richard Pond has been monitoring this site through the year and yes so far the Dormice have ignored them! Here are some pics to show you why I’m not surprised. With habitat that dense why would they use the boxes! But I’ve heard a rumour that they have used boxes at this site in the past so it should only be a matter of time. Dormice like to prove me wrong as well so there’s hope yet.

Website/Blog/Facebook/Forum

This goes onto the Biodiversity website for Carmarthenshire now and after a few discussions it looks like a Facebook page is the way to go so watch out for that, once I’ve figured out how to do it that is! (That’s a massive hint by the way that any pointers in the right direction would be gratefully received.)

Events for the Winter

As part of the MISE project there will be a couple of events during December. The MISE project is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Ireland Wales Programme (INTERREG 4A). It is a new partnership project with the Vincent Wildlife Trust. The project aims to monitor mammal species of conservation interest, with the help of novel genetic techniques, and work with volunteers to raise awareness, and engage the public in mammal survey and conservation work. Dormouse is one of the species that will be focussed on.

The events will be two nut search mornings to help get more people involved so we can cover much more of the county and spread the word about these amazing animals. The dates, which will be lead by Jenny Macpherson who is running the MISE project in Carmarthenshire, are 11th and 18th December, the first site near Pontabraham roundabout and the second near Capel Dewi. The second site is huge so the more the merrier and to get us in the Charismas spirit there will be mince pies as well. If anyone would like to come along then drop me an email.

Best wishes Jacqueline