Well isn’t this is just adorable.
For context, this dormouse was found in torpor (a state of not being active and having very little energy) by conservationists, sleeping in a nesting box they had provided. He was only very briefly removed as part of a monitoring project to be checked and weighed to ensure he had enough fat reserves to slumber on through until spring. He was in the hands of a licensed expert and judged to be in good health.
Did you know obtaining a license to handle dormice in Britain requires up two years of training?! Also, dormice may spend up to three quarters of their lives asleep, either hibernating in the winter or in torpor during the summer.
