66 WOODLAND CREATURES 



June, the majority being much later. The family 

 usually numbers four, seldom more, but sometimes 

 less. 



Young dormice when first born are not quite 

 so naked as most little rodents, for they have 

 some few very short hairs about their skinny 

 little bodies. They grow and develop at a great 

 pace, and are soon well clad in yellowish-brown 

 fur, which is similar to that of the old ones, though 

 duller in hue. During the autumn this darker 

 tint serves to distinguish them from the adults, 

 but after the first moult they cannot be told 

 apart. 



I once attempted to rear four small dormice. 

 A workman who was laying down a hedge found 

 the nest, having knocked it out of the fence while 

 at his work. He brought the poor little things 

 to me, but they were so small and helpless that 

 I despaired of saving them. Their eyes were 

 beginning to open, and they could just sit up, 

 but were yet feeble and helpless. Their heads 

 were their biggest parts, and they were as top- 

 heavy looking as such wee babies usually are. 

 Their feet were disproportionately large, especially 

 the hind ones, but they would cling like limpets 

 with them. They kept up a continuous shrill 

 squeaking, very like that made by bats, and 

 pitched quite as high, for two persons told me 

 they could not hear it at all. With the help of 

 a camel-hair paint brush I got them to take some 

 warm milk, and in a day or two they were able 

 to nibble a little bread soaked in milk, but, as 



