Forget the dormouse at the Mad Hatter’s tea party who was asleep in a teapot - 'Sir Chunks -A-Lot' was found passed out in a bird feeder!
An Islander has been left baffled and concerned after discovering a “very chunky” Hazel Dormouse stuck - and asleep inside a birdfeeder.
But his presence didn’t deter the birds from using the feeder.
It must have been like some sort of dystopia nightmare for the mouse to wake up to giant beaks pecking at him!
The Islander posted pictures on the Hampshire Dormouse Facebook Group asking for help and advice as to how to set him free.
Catherine Hadler from Hampshire Dormouse Group told Isle of Wight Radio:
“He had obviously gone in in the night - because they are nocturnal - fed himself up to a sheer amount of chins and fat rolls - it was quite unbelievable.
“Consequently, he couldn’t get out - so he just tucked down for a nap and she found him dozing in the feeder”.
Luckily Sir Chunks A-Lot simply “rolled his way out” of the feeder and “waddled off happily” - more than ready for hibernation.
But the more serious news is - since 2000 the Hazel Dormouse has lost 51% of their population, according to data from the NDMP (national dormouse monitoring programme).
They are under threat from several things including habitat loss like undermanaged woodlands or the removal of woodlands, scrub or hedgerow habitats.
They use hedgerows, scrub and woods as their 'corridors' as they are arboreal so require some kind of tree or scrub vegetation to move via.
When these get fragmented, such as hedgerows destroyed by development or huge farming fields with no hedgerow connectivity, the populations cannot move around and a population may get isolated and die out or lose its genetic diversity.
Scroll through pictures here.
If you see any on the Island you must log it on this database here - so their process can be monitored.
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