Sleeping beauties

My first encounter with a dormouse was my most memorable. I was out pigeon shooting with a friend, wildlife artist Tim Greenwood, in a hazel coppice in the Weald of Kent. Suddenly, Tim dropped his gun and, as quick as a flash, caught a dormouse that he had spotted climbing in a nearby tree. That dormouse was immortalised in a copper-plate etching that was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, where the edition sold out.

That incident took place more than 50 years ago. These days, catching or even handling a dormouse is strictly illegal unless you have a licence, for these attractive rodents are fully protected by law. Schedule 6 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 gave the dormouse partial protection and this was followed by full protection as a Schedule 5 species in 1986. Sadly, protection doesn’t mean a great deal. True, trapping, killing and trade in the species are unlawful, but the law offers no defence against habitat loss, the greatest threat to the survival