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The tiny hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) is England’s only native dormouse. Just three inches long and under an ounce in weight, it used to be common, especially in southern England, in forests with a dense understory of hazel, ivy, and honeysuckle, which allows the mice to climb into the thickets to nest in safety. But the population of hazel dormice has plummeted in recent years, mainly through the loss and fragmentation of woodland and hedgerows. One possible habitat for them is the enormous woodland adjacent to the Goodwood Estate and motorsports park—which itself is adjacent to the headquarters of Rolls-Royce Motorcars. To investigate the possibility of a resident hazel dormouse community, apprentices at Rolls-Royce, with input from the estate’s forestry managers, designed and constructed a series of nest boxes—from quarter-sawn oak, no less—which will be monitored to prove, or disprove, the presence of the mice. I’d suggest the company offer these for sale to the public as well at a premium, complete with the Rolls-Royce stamp, to provide yet more habitat and raise money for further conservation efforts. (I might also suggest they investigate something a bit more suitable than bungee cord to secure it to the tree.) View the full article