Snoring Dormouse with sound - listen

Don’t worry, he’s okay! He’s just sleeping. He’s a dormouse. In winter, dormice hibernate in nests beneath the fallen leaves on the ground. When they wake up in spring, they build woven nests of honeysuckle bark and fresh leaves in the undergrowth. If the weather is cold and wet, and food scarce, they save energy by going into ’torpor’ -- they curl up into a ball and go to sleep. In fact, in Britain the dormouse may spend up to three quarters of its life asleep, either hibernating in winter or in torpor during summer. It is believed their name comes from the Anglo-Norman word dormeus, meaning “sleepy (one)“ which evolved to become dormouse. As autumn comes, they prepare for hibernation by fattening up on nuts and berries. Then around the time of the first frost, when the temperatures fall below 15 oC, their metabolism shuts down and they find a secure, dry place to build a nest and sleep. During hibernation they lose about a quarter of their body weight.