The world is full of wonders, you just have to see them. The award-winning nature photographer and wildlife filmmaker Konrad Wothe from Penzberg captures the beauty of nature on our doorstep. In the SZ series “Da schau her” he presents treasures that need to be discovered and preserved with spring as nature awakens.
“This picture was taken in a friend’s hut. There’s a whole family of dormouse nesting there. I think they look super cute with their button eyes and fluffy tails, a bit like little squirrels.
The dormouse is a rodent of the dormice or dormouse family. Its hibernation lasts from October to early May, a little longer than seven months. He usually spends it in burrows, which he digs up to a meter deep in the ground. Sometimes, however, it also hibernates in buildings, in ricks or in huts. Then it may be that he wakes up in winter.
It is active at dusk and at night, during the day you will hardly see it rushing around, climbing and jumping. Its food in spring is buds, young shoots and tree bark, in summer berries and other fruit are added, as well as insects and young birds. In autumn he has to eat up his fat for the winter with beechnuts, acorns and nuts because he doesn’t keep any stocks. Radishes, as you can see in the picture, he didn’t touch. But he liked to gnaw the apple.
Edible dormouse are sociable animals and often travel in family groups – preferably in mixed forests with lots of undergrowth, but also in orchards or parks. . They give birth to four to six young once a year. Tree cavities, nesting boxes and human dwellings can be used as nurseries. Whoever has such a gang of rascals in the attic can have sleepless nights with the squeaking and whistling.
Enemies of the dormouse are owls and martens, which like them are nocturnal, and of course humans. Even the ancient Romans ate it as a delicacy. In some southern European countries it is still eaten today.”