Surrey Wildlife Trust Mammal Project Officer, Dave Williams, took this lovely footage of a dormouse in torpor. A special licence is needed to handle dormice.

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Dormice hibernate in the winter in nests that they make hidden away on the ground. In Britain the dormouse may spend up to 1/3 of its life in hibernation. Dormice usually enter hibernation at the time of the first frost, when nearly all food is gone. Dormice rely upon fat reserves gathered in the summer and autumn, and during hibernation they loose about a quarter of their body weight.

For more information visit http://www.surreywildlifetrust.org/conservation/projects/8