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78 Irish Naturalists’ Journal Vol. 33 Part 1 Irish Naturalists’ Journal Vol. 33 Part 1 79
On 30 August 2010, an email was received
by the National Parks and Wildlife Service
from a member of the public in Co. Kildare.
ree photographs were attached and the
email asked whether the animals shown were
Red Squirrels. While the animals shown did
supercially resemble red squirrels, being
chestnut red in colour and possessing hairy tails,
it was immediately apparent that they were not
squirrels. ey looked to be dormice and Dr Tony
Mitchell-Jones of Natural England, a dormouse
expert, was quickly able to conrm that they were
young Hazel Dormice Muscardinus avellanarius
(Linnaeus, 1758).
FM visited the garden in the countryside
outside Naas where the dormice had been
photographed and was able to conrm that the
photograph had been taken in that location.
However, a brief search for signs, such as nests
or nibbled hazel nuts, was unsuccessful and the
dormice were not seen again by that home-owner.
On 7 November 2012, the Kildare Animal
Foundation`s Wildlife Unit were contacted by
a member of the public near Newbridge in Co.
Kildare who had found a strange animal while
cleaning out a tree-house. DD went to meet the
lady with the animal and she handed over the
box in which it was contained. On viewing the
animal in question it was thought to be a Hazel
Dormouse and this identication was conrmed
by CL. e dormouse was brought back to the
Animal Shelter to be cared for. In the days that
followed DD re-visited the site from which the
dormouse had come. It was found that the animal
had been living in perfect dormouse habitat.
Some hazel nut shells were found at the site
which had been clearly nibbled by a dormouse.
Extensive media coverage about the animal
followed, which in turn has led to several further
reports of dormice from the same area of central
Co. Kildare. It would appear that a breeding
population may have become established in the
area.
Dormice are native to central Europe, and
are also found in southern England and Wales
(Mitchell-Jones et al. 1999). eir preferred
habitat is broad-leaved woodland, with a well-
developed shrub layer. However they can also
survive perennially in overgrown hedgerows,
in particular those containing Hazel (Corylus
avellana Linnaeus, 1753) or bramble (Rubus
fruticosus agg.). ey nest in shrubs during the
year, but take to winter nests on the ground,
where they hibernate from October to April.
eir diet changes seasonally as they feed
sequentially on owers and pollen, insects and
fruit and nuts with the changing seasons (Bright
and Morris 2008).
A number of possible routes of arrival for the
current animals in Kildare have been considered
including the horticultural trade and horse
racing industry. Given the extensive nature of
the horse-breeding and racing industry in central
Kildare and the regular trac of horse boxes back
and forth to England this may perhaps be the
most likely explanation. However, a deliberate
introduction cannot be ruled out.
At least one historical reference to the
release of dormice in Ireland exists. Under
the heading “Attempted acclimatisation
of the Dormouse in Ireland”, well known
Irish naturalist, R.M. Barrington had this
note published in 1885 (Barrington 1885):
.— I have to-day (November 13th) set free six healthy
Dormice which I received from London. ey have
been released in a thicket near some hazel-bushes.
e Dormouse is not an Irish quadruped, and it
may be as well to place on record an indication
of what is, so far as I am aware, the rst “centre
of introduction” in Ireland.— R. M. Barrington
(Fassaroe, Bray, County Wicklow).
ese animals were, as far as we can establish,
never heard of again.
e indications from other countries are that
dormouse are unlikely to become an invasive or
pest species if they do become established; they are
rare enough to be a focus of conservation eorts
in England for example (Bright et al. 2006).
Nonetheless, predicting the impact of non-native
species is notoriously dicult and given that
dormice do have a potentially high reproductive
rate, a close eye will need to be kept on them.
To begin with a dedicated dormouse survey of
central Kildare would appear to be warranted and
plans are underway in NUI Galway for this to
start in spring 2013.
Ferdia Marnell
National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department
of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, 7 Ely Place,
Dublin 2 - ferdia.marnell@ahg.gov.ie
Daniel Donoher
Kildare Animal Foundation, South Green Road,
Kildare Town, County Kildare
Emma Sheehy and Colin Lawton
School of Natural Sciences, Ryan Institute,
National University of Ireland, Galway.
Barrington, R.M. (1885) Attempted
acclimatization of the Dormouse
in Ireland. Zoologist 9: 479.
Bright, P., Morris, P. and Mitchell-Jones, A.J.
(2006) e dormouse conservation handbook.
English Nature. Peterborough, UK.
Bright, T. and Morris, P. (2008) Hazel dormouse
Muscardinus avelanlarius. In Harris, S. and
Yalden, D. (eds) Mammals of the British Isles:
Handbook: Fourth Edition. Mammal Society.
Mitchell-Jones, A.J., Amori, G., Bogdanowicz,
W., Kryštufek, B., Reijnders, P.J.H.,
Spitzenberger, F., Stubbe, M. issen, J.B.M.,
Vohralík, V. and Zima, J. (1999) e Atlas of
European Mammals. Poyser Natural History,
London, UK.
First conrmed record of Hazel
Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius)
in the wild in Ireland Figure 1.
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