The kids in the Machynlleth area have recently been going completely nuts! No, I am not suggesting the good children of mid Wales have been struck by a severe case of juvenile delinquency that has seen them stopping doing their homework and defying their parents by staying out all night!
Quite the opposite in fact. The local kids are, I’ve heard always impeccably behaved. But for the last few weeks they have been extra good! They have been going nuts for hazel nuts by collecting them at the RSPB Ynys-hir reserve: and not just a few, but as Michael Kane apparently once said ‘fousands of em’!! Although I don’t think he was referring to Hazel nuts.
And why are they doing this? It is all part of a new project devised and organised by RSPB Ynys–hir and the Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust to help create new habitat for the dormouse.
The dormouse is rather partial to nuts. In fact, it’s a complete nutaholic! It not only likes a good nibble on a nut most days but also likes to live amongst them. Making its home between the branches and stems of the hazel trees. Such is its affection for hazel nuts and trees some people refer to it as the hazel dormouse.
So to help create more habitats for this shy gingery brown little mammal the project has seen local children picking nuts and potting them up. When they’re big enough they will then be planted out at Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trusts Cors Dyfi reserve. Thus providing new homes and ample grub for the dormice to feast on for years to come.
The dormouse is a fascinating little animal, but if you manage to see one in the hedgerows and woodlands of Wales you will be very lucky indeed! Not only is the dormouse largely nocturnal but it has the sleeping habits that would put the average first year university student to shame! It hibernates for six months of the year and if the spring is a cold one this can be even longer! It only surfaces to munch on food stashes that help it keep going through the winter. So if you are incredibly lucky to see one in winter chances are it will be on one of its food runs; the dormouse equivalent of raiding the fridge! Its name also derives from its propensity to get some shut eye for long period of its life. Dormouse comes from the Anglo- Norman dormeus,which means "sleepy (one)".
Being sleepy hasn’t always helped the humble dormouse when it has been depicted in popular fiction. In the mad hatters tea party in Lewis Carrols Adventutures in Wonderland the March Hare and the Hatter use the poor little dormouse as a cushion while he sleeps! The Dormouse is constantly nodding off during the scene only waking up so often to say`You might just as well say,' "I breathe when I sleep" is the same thing as "I sleep when I breathe"!'
To get involved or learn about planting all sorts of trees visit .treegrowing.tcv.org.uk/grow or contact RSPB Ynys-hir on 01654 700222 or e-mail: Beverly.dimmock@rspb.org.uk