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Adorable Dormouse - lady cop - 03-16-2010
too sweet for words!
Pictured: The cute dormouse blissfully unaware he was saved from the jaws of death
on 16th March
A hibernating dormouse curls up in the palm of a hand, blissfully unaware he has just been rescued from almost certain death in sub-zero temperatures.
The tiny animal can only be held for just a few seconds because its carer's warming touch would wake it prematurely.
Dormouse expert Dave Williams saved the three-inch creature from a back garden where he was left exposed to frost. A gardener accidently raked its woven grass nest from under a box hedge he had trimmed near Leatherhead, Surrey.
It may have died if left exposed to freezing temperatures or struggled to find the seeds, nuts and berries it eats if woken early.
Mr Williams, from Surrey Wildlife Trust, examined the nest and found the mouse was healthy and sleeping inside.
He took it to nearby Wildlife Aid animal sanctuary where the mouse can be monitored and then fed when it wakes around April or May.
Mr Williams said: 'A gardener was cutting back a box hedge when they noticed this tight ball of grass on the ground.
'They had seen a dormouse earlier in the year by their compost heap and suspected it may be a nest so they covered it with cuttings and called me.
'The mouse was healthy but it was too exposed and I was not prepared to leave it.
'I took the mouse and nest to the Wildlife Aid centre where staff are keeping an eye on it.
'It will have a good supply of fruit, hazelnuts and sunflower seeds when it wakes and once it has been fed up it will be released back into the garden. He added: 'I had to handle the mouse to check it was healthy but you can only touch it for about 30 seconds at a time.
'If it gets too hot it could trick the mouse into thinking spring has come and it will wake from hibernation.
'That is not too serious at the wildlife sanctuary because we can feed it but in the wild it would struggle to find food this early in the year.'
Wildlife Aid founder Simon Cowell said: 'We want it to come out of hibernation at its own pace and are currently monitoring it from a distance.
'When it comes round we will make sure it has got food and is good to go.'
Hazel dormice measure six to nine centimetres (2.4 to 3.5 inches) long and weigh 17 to 20 grams (0.60 to 0.71 oz). This weight can double prior to hibernation.
The Hazel dormouse has golden-brown fur and large black eyes and is the only dormouse native to the British Isles.
It is nocturnal and a protected species.
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RE: Adorable Dormouse - Twilla - 03-16-2010
Little guy's really wrapped up tight, isn't he. I've never seen anything like that.
RE: Adorable Dormouse - twisteroo - 03-16-2010
Yep, pretty cool.
RE: Adorable Dormouse - kbear - 03-16-2010
What a cute little thing!!!
RE: Adorable Dormouse - Twilla - 03-16-2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqtuzyYS_ls
RE: Adorable Dormouse - lady cop - 03-16-2010
that is precious!!
RE: Adorable Dormouse - lady cop - 04-02-2010
a rescued baby wombat! awwwwwww
She may only have a tiny heart - but luckily for Karmann the orphaned wombat, she was rescued by an animal lover with a large one.
The helpless little creature owes her life to a driver who rescued her from the pouch of her dying mother, who had been run over in East Gippsland, Australia in early March.
Karmann was rushed to the Warrandyte Wildlife Shelter in Melbourne, where she is to spend the next three months of her life being cared for in their state-of-the-art intensive care unit.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... z0jyUTo8rp
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RE: Adorable Dormouse - Twitchin Kitten - 04-02-2010
I had a friend who used to drive me nuts when we were together. Spring is when you see the most dead animals on the road and opossums being the most prevalent. She'd always make me stop the truck so she can go check the pouch for babies. Quite often she'd find live babies in there to nurse till they are ready to be weaned and returned to the wild.
RE: Adorable Dormouse - Twilla - 04-02-2010
That never even occurred to me although I don't see many opossums where I live anyway.
That baby looks kind of like a mutant human.
RE: Adorable Dormouse - Twitchin Kitten - 04-02-2010
opossums actually made nice pets too. She kept one and named him Jimmy.