Workshop: Build a dormouse box

Every Saturday and Sunday in September from 10 am to 12 pm you can help build dormiceboxes at Naturama.

Danish nature is having a hard time, because while humans are filling up more and more, more and more animals are losing their habitats. The dormouse is no exception. For many years, we at Naturama have been researching how we can better help the dormouse, and we have, because the dormouse plays an important role. The dormouse is what we call an indicator species, a kind of animal that, due to its way of life – the many things it eats and the rather strict requirements it places on its habitat, can be seen as a bit of a diva.

On the other hand, this also means that if the dormouse is found in an area, its presence says a lot about how good nature is in that particular area. Because if the dormouse lives in the forest, then nature must be good enough to support such a picky eater and thus the natural area will automatically also be really good for the other animals in the forest. As a result, the dormouse has quickly become what we call an indicator of good biodiversity.

Because the dormouse’s presence says so much about how good a natural area is, we at Naturama will of course do what we can to ensure its spread. But the dormouse, like so many other animals in Denmark, has not had it easy lately. Fragmentation of its habitats and climate change are affecting the little dormouse just as much as so many other animals. That is why it is Naturama’s mission to help the little dormouse so that it can thrive again.

Naturama’s research:

Every year, Naturama’s researcher: Professor Hamselmus goes out into natural areas and observes how many dormouse live there and how they are doing. The dormouse sleeps during the day and it sleeps really deeply – the dormouse actually has a bit of what we call – a real sleeper’s heart, and so that the dormouse has a safe place to sleep, Naturama currently has more than 900 dormouse boxes hanging out in various natural areas. The boxes give the dormice a place to sleep while it is light and this gives Professor Dormouse the opportunity to check the boxes while the mice are sleeping, so he can count them – without them noticing too much. However, it is important that only Professor Dormouse looks in the boxes – as he, as a researcher who leads dormice, knows exactly how to do it.

Build your own box:

Come along and build a dormice box that Naturama can hang in nature. Help take care of the dormice, so that we can ensure a good Danish nature, for it and all the other animals that live in it.