Finding hazel dormice isn’t easy. And it’s even more difficult to prove that they’re absent from a particular patch. But dormice are protected in law. So, when new houses are built or roads expanded, the developers must ensure that any hedges, shrubby habitat or woodlands that are likely to be disturbed or destroyed, are thoroughly checked to see if dormice are present.
The current tried and tested method used in England and Wales is nest tubes: long plastic tunnels with a wooden insert. They’re placed in hedgerows or hanging horizontally from branches and checked regularly for evidence of nests. Both Natural England and Natural Resources Wales – the government’s advisers for the natural environment in England and Wales – recommend nest tubes as the best means of surveying for dormice. But there are problems with the method.
Hundreds of such surveys have been carried out over the past fifteen years and positive records of dormice submitted which helps build up a picture of dormouse distribution and their wider ecology. But there has never been a way of recording negative records. And negative records of species (collected using a standardised way) are important. They help us define a species range and predict more accurately where we’re likely to find dormice.
Read on https://ptes.org/where-dormice-are-and-arent-the-advantages-of-footprint-tracking-tunnels/
