This is a Dormouse We have these in the garden but I've never seen them, they mostly come out at night, mostly....
These dear little creatures spend much of their time sleeping and are protected. They are under threat now as they are losing their habitat - much like other creatures worldwide. There is evidence of a good number of them here on our patch as they like the chalkland and the hazel trees that abound.
You can tell if Dormice are in the garden from the way they open Hazelnuts (Just happened to have some in my desk) Dormice leave a tooth pattern round the holes while Squirrels just split them in half.
Nice pictures and explanations of your adventures with critters that many of us rarely see. The only wild animal I ever had the pleasure to run across literally was a raccoon that would sooner take my head off than allow me to walk thru his garden.. And oo gosh a horrifying experience with a huge bull that was out from a neighbors yard that had totally upset my horses. As I was trying to put a lead rope on the bulls head halter with a bucket of grain he began snorting and screaming and that immediately led my horses to chase him off. It’s no bull when your instincts tell you not to mess with a bull in spring. I was trying to save my horses when it turned out my horses saved me.
We have harbor seals, sea lions, great blue herons (that try to eat all my gold fish from the outdoor pond), otters, a wide variety of sea birds, eagles, hawks, owls, ducks, loons, geese, swans, porcupine, shrews, rats, moles, turtles, deer and I am sure many more critters in the downtown and surrounding area. Although many of the parks on this end of the Puget Sound are mud flats, a few are sandy or rocky. A wide variety of mussels clams, oysters, sea stars, crabs, sand dollars and a huge variety of critters I have no name for without a guide are abundant. If you love nature and are observant getting outside can provide you with a joyous experience. ‘Had lunch with a friend this last week at a grocery store/restaurant on the sound and watched harbor seals fishing for salmon and sea gulls hoping to steal a morsel. Have seen otters as I walked around the downtown lake in the past. Living in a temperate rainforest provides habitat for a multitude of critters both seen and unseen. Being out on the water I have also seen harbor porpoise and though I haven’t gotten to see orcas (without going on a tour) friends who live on the Hood Canal regularly see them. A multitude of critters here, making walking any of the multitude of city, county and state parks a joy. Sometimes I forget (but not often) what a wonderful area I live.
Jewell.. your in a beautiful area . With so many creatures to watch and admire from afar. it sounds like you are co-exhisting with a zoo in a way. Certainly the water does have its abundance of creatures. During summers her near the Columbia river lots of water foul and other creatures hunting for food. Winters not so much they all hibernate. Newport has a huge seal issue taking over boats. living near a river we have herons that have raided our pond as well as raccoons. I just don’t keep fish in the pond any more. It’s a lot more peaceful not having to worry about it. Most of the wildlife has been here for generations. No matter how many new houses or farms are included, the wild life will always have their mark on their homes too.
Feral rabbits are an issue in our cities. My oldest daughter has two indoor pet indoor dwarf rabbits, and lives in a city with feral rabbits. Just this summer a virus has wiped out almost the entire feral bunny population in that city and they say it is spreading. She's pretty careful with her littles and doesn't let them out to graze right now. @Zigs - that is a lot of badgers in one place They are rare and protected in my region. One moved into the fallow field and took care of a huge gopher population in short order. My Dad used to tell me he was chased by one after poking it's hole with a stick when he was a kid. As an adult he had been chased by a cow moose and bluffed by a bear - he said the Badger was scarier. We have weasels - the smallest being a great mouser called an Ermine. Those dormice are adorable. Cougars, Lynx, Bobcat, Bears, Wolves, Coyotes, Fox, Porcupines, Weasels, wild bunnies, Elk on occasion, Deer, Moose, Beavers, many birds of prey including Great Grey Owls, Sandhill cranes, and a glimpse of migratory swans are the ones that mainly come to mind. My favourite sound in the whole entire world is a Loon on a calm evening lake. Folks who live by the ocean are so fortunate to have exposure to such a vast array of wildlife. Pretty magical. We had a cow moose and calf hanging around a couple of winters ago. We missed some appointments because they were eating the willows between the house and the truck. It was such a deep snow, and cold. Lots of wolf packs around. So we let her hang around the house and barn, on the trails and plowed driveway, to eat the willows and keep her calf safe. That Momma required that we were far more mindful than we have to be with the bears, wolves and cougars. She only hung around for a couple of weeks, until the weather broke and the full moon passed. Baby.. Mom would pull branches down for him.
Zigs, it seems like their snoring so loudly could be a reason for their endangered status also. Maybe their habitat didn’t have predators before???
Not sure where they came from before but the Romans introduced them to Britain, they called them the edible Dormouse
The deer do the same thing to me , square up … since I started using the air gun they run off quickly they don’t like the noise.
