Hazel dormice found at Babers Farm

We're delighted to share some exciting conservation news: hazel dormice have been confirmed at Babers Farm in Dorset, making it the first Countryside Regeneration Trust (CRT) farm to return positive results in our search for this elusive and endangered species. 

The hazel dormouse is one of Britain's most charming native mammals, a small rodent with soft golden-brown fur, large black eyes and a distinctive furry tail. It spends the warmer months climbing through hedgerows, trees and shrubs before disappearing into hibernation over winter. 

Sadly, dormice are also in serious trouble. They're a European Protected Species, currently classed as vulnerable to extinction. Dormice typically produce one or two litters of around four young per year and live at very low densities, which makes population recovery slow and every confirmed sighting valuable. 

Their survival depends on very specific habitat: diverse woodland with a connected understorey and touching branches, dense hedgerows, and well-connected woodland corridors. They also need a varied diet through the seasons: blossom in spring, insects in summer, and fruits and nuts in autumn. Where that mix of habitat and food isn't available, dormice can't survive. Below you can see volunteer Lynne Sinclair checking one of the tunnels for prints.

How we found them
Finding dormice isn't straightforward because they're nocturnal, arboreal, and easily overlooked. At Babers Farm in Dorset, we installed 39 footprint tunnels along hedgerows and woodland edges. Each tunnel contains a harmless strip of paper with inkpads at both end coated in a charcoal and olive oil, so any small mammal passing through leaves its footprints behind. 

Since the tunnels went up in mid-May, nine of the 39 have recorded dormouse footprints - a strong early result. The tunnels are checked every fortnight by conservation officer Ruth Moss or a CRT volunteer, who also top up the ink as it dries out. 

Telling a dormouse footprint apart from those of other small mammals takes a practised eye. Dormice have triangular pads on their feet, leaving a print pattern that resembles the pie-slice segments on a Trivial Pursuit token. Wood mice, by contrast, leave a print more like a scatter of polka dots. 

Ruth Moss, the CRT's conservation officer, has been leading the survey work at Babers Farm: “It's really encouraging to see evidence of hazel dormouse presence on the farm. As the survey progresses, the results will build up a more complete picture of where, within the areas surveyed, dormice are present on the farm. 

“Having a current set of data helps us to manage these areas with dormice in mind. I'm looking forward to seeing the results from future survey checks, which will continue into September 2026." 

Across our farms
Babers Farm isn't the only site where we're looking for dormice. Footprint tunnels have also been placed at Bere Marsh Farm in Dorset, and at Pierrepont Farm and Green Farm in Surrey. We already know dormice are present at Turnastone Court Farm and Awnells Farm in Herefordshire. Babers Farm is the first of the newly surveyed sites to return a positive result, and we hope it won't be the last. 

Made possible by you
None of this work would have been possible without the generosity of CRT supporters, who helped us raise £6,000 to fund the search for dormice across our farms. That funding covers not just the survey work itself, but also habitat improvements in the areas where dormice are found, helping to protect and strengthen the hedgerows and woodland they rely on. 

With the survey set to continue through to September 2026 for our Dorset farms and November for our Surrey locations, we're looking forward to building an ever-clearer picture of where dormice are thriving on our land and using that knowledge to manage these habitats with their future firmly in mind. 

Want to support future surveys and habitat work like this? Every donation helps us protect Britain's rarest and most vulnerable wildlife. 

Published: July, 2026