Dormice can spend nearly three-quarters of the year 'asleep' in some form... sounds good? 💤 pic.twitter.com/cNt8hqA5Fr— The Wildlife Trusts (@WildlifeTrusts) September 8, 2018
Cute, sleepy, nocturnal, largely arboreal, and a protected species, dormice numbers have declined by over 70% in two decades – in large part due to habitat fragmentation:
These tiny rodents spend most of their life among trees and can only travel small distances across open ground. As a result, the continued loss and damage of our native woodland and the hedgerows that once connected it has been disastrous.
The #dormouse is just one of our native species affected by #habitat fragmentation. But what exactly does this mean and why is it such a concern? Find out in our latest blog https://t.co/kEJ6K8jCrp pic.twitter.com/j6uMqbRUt3— Woodland Trust (@WoodlandTrust) August 17, 2018
There are dormice at Straitgate Farm. Aggregate Industries plans to grub up their habitat – some 1500m of ancient hedgerow up to 4m wide. Little suitable replacement habitat is yet in place.
But apparently even the aggregate companies – purveyors of habitat fragmentation – love dormice. No, really. Forget about pesky ecological surveys, development delays, mitigation and compensation – look at this from CEMEX. What better way to greenwash a twitter feed?
This is the miniature dormouse, a very skillful rodent from the British Islands. This sleepy animal spends most of its life hibernating, sleeping each year from October until May. How would you caption this photo? pic.twitter.com/15UQym9G8B— CEMEX Nature (@CEMEXNature) September 8, 2018
