Everyone knows that men are from Mars and women are from Venus - now it has been found that even male and female dormice have contrasting emotional needs.

The creatures' fear of predators prevents them from crossing roads to reach new habitats, but conservationists have now come up with an ingenious solution that suits the differing requirements of either sex: his and hers tunnels - his with the bare minimum, hers with a bit of luxury.

The hazel dormouse, Muscardinus avellanarius, is found in only half the areas it inhabited a century ago and only 10,000 remain in Britain. The creature could disappear if the slump is not reversed.

Fragmentation of its woodland habitat is the biggest threat because the animal is so scared of being torn apart by tooth, claw or talon that it generally refuses to cross open ground, whether roads, tracks or fields.

The combination of fragmented habitat and fear of open spaces means that many dormouse populations are at risk of dying out because numbers are too low to provide a big enough gene pool for long-term survival. By offering the nocturnal animals a route across roads, tracks and even between gaps in the remaining hedgerows, habitats can be linked.

Conservationists have found that two types of mesh tunnel work best: a large empty tunnel, favoured by males, and a smaller one for females, filled with sisal, a straw-like material. One of the females in the trial was so impressed that she did what dormice do best - she built a nest in it and went to sleep

The test route, part of a project funded by the People's Trust for Endangered Species, was built as a bridge above a path in a wood in Herne Bay, Kent. It was formed of four wire mesh tunnels, of two sizes. One of each was left empty while the other was filled with sisal, which is used for ropes. Infra-red sensors detected the differing preference of males and females.

The tunnels, 6-8 metres across, were built 7.5 metres high to keep the dormice clear of people using the path below and to mimic the effect of using the tree canopy.

Dormice dislike open ground, whether an open field or bare ground beneath woodland trees. They prefer to stay hidden amid the leaves and stems as they search for food such as berries, nuts, insects and flowers.

Breaks between habitat matter particularly for dormice because they live in low densities and a hectare of good-quality woodland will support only six to eight of them.

Ian Stride, who conducted the trials, hopes that the bridge will offer a cheap and simple solution to joining up doormouse populations.

The animals were widespread in England in the 19th century but have suffered a severe decline in the past 100 years, vanishing from nine counties and struggling to cling on in ten.

Mr Stride, who carried out the trials in land owned by the Wildwood Trust, said: “It's a really good result and could be very significant for the dormouse. Dormice have lots of suitable areas in which to live in but they are often scattered - they need to be linked up. Where there's no tree canopy these tunnels seem to be ideal to let the dormouse disperse.”

Jill Nelson, of the trust, said: “Fragmented landscape is a great threat to dormice - they easily become marooned in island populations. Finding that dormice are actually prepared to use these special bridges is exciting and has real potential for helping with their successful conservation.”

The distribution and decline of the animals has been charted for the past 20 years by the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme, which collates data from more than 200 sites.

At a recent international conference on dormice in Shipham, Somerset, findings were presented by experts showing that the animals will, in desperation, occasionally cross open spaces such as car parks but it is regarded as extremely rare behaviour.

The tunnel design will be made available to other conservation groups.

Sleepy lives

— The only native dormouse in Britain is the hazel dormouse, also known as the common dormouse. They live for about five years

— They can add 75 per cent to their body weight in preparation for hibernation

— Their name derives from the French word dormir (to sleep)

— They hibernate for seven months of the year and will take extended naps during summer months. Up to 75 per cent of a dormouse’s life may be spent sleeping

— Their diet consists mainly of nuts, seeds and flowers of hazel, oak, bramble and honeysuckle

— Dormice spend most of their time in the treetops, where their bushy tails give them good balance. They nest in tree hollows, and can weave their own nests from shredded twigs and bark

— Dormice generally have one or two offspring a year

— Edible dormice, Glis glis, are the largest species and were eaten by the Romans. They were introduced to Britain in 1902 and are found in the Chiltern Hills

Source: Times Database

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