Mild spring

Are all the dormice awake yet?

According to its name, the nocturnal rodent sleeps through the night for seven months. But it actually sleeps longer - usually more like eight months.(Bild: mgkuijpers - stock.adobe.com)

The cute dormice have spent the winter snuggled up together in rotting knotholes, woodpecker holes and abandoned crow's nests. A whole seven months - as the name suggests. But this year the mild spring has kissed them awake much earlier. 

The cute dormouse slumbers blissfully for a whole seven months in its cozy hiding place: snuggled together in rotting knotholes, woodpecker holes, but also abandoned crow's nests. Individuals often burrow up to one meter underground to escape snow and frost. The great slumber had already begun for the roosters in September. Normally, their internal sleep clock ticks away until late April.

But this year, like so many other creatures out there in the green firs, the little fellows are much earlier. However, you will hardly notice the (n)ever-tired one. This is because the dormouse is so shy and crepuscular that it only really wakes up at nightfall and only returns to its nest in the morning. At best, you can hear it - because when a nest box is opened for spring cleaning, it "growls", rattling and quite grumpy.

Jumps of up to 1 m are not uncommon high up in the shrubbery . Otherwise, however, it is a rather sociable animal that stands on its hind legs like a squirrel when feeding and uses its front paws to bring fresh buds, seeds, bird's eggs and many other delicacies from Mother Nature to its mouth.

What else characterizes the dormouse is its keen sense of hearing. Sitting quietly, its large ears turned in every direction of the wind, the rodent from the dormouse family hears every rustle, no matter how quiet. However, this doesn't always help them against the approach of enemies such as wildcats, eagle owls or owls. And this despite the fact that the four-legged friend is a gymnastic super athlete between leaves, trunks and branches. Jumps of up to one meter are not uncommon up there in the shrubbery, according to

Austria's hunting legend Rudolf Gürtler. For him, the early awakening is also an unmistakable sign that spring has arrived earlier than usual this year. In the interests of nature and the little rodent, we can only hope that it stays that way and that there are no more nasty winter surprises to overcome.