THE DORMOUSE 



103 



Both wounds had been long healed. 

 There was a crinkle where an ear should 

 be, and hair concealed the indecorous 

 tail-stump.* A slashing blow this must 

 have been. An owl, perha])s ; more jiro- 

 doubt if Dormice fall a 



bably a 

 prey to 



cat. I 

 Owls. 

 The food of 

 Owls can be 

 very fairly de- 

 termined by 

 their pellets. I 

 know no case 

 of the remains 

 of either Har- 

 vest Mice or 

 Dormice. Those 

 of Shrews, 

 Field Mice, 

 House Mice, 

 and Meadow 

 Mice are com- 

 mon. 



A loss of tail 

 must, one 

 would think, be 

 a serious mat- 

 ter for a Dor- 

 mouse. Yet, 

 as youthful in- 

 vestigators are 

 quick to dis- 

 cover, the tail 

 strips easily. 

 Why it strips 

 easily I know 

 not. The rings 

 are decidedly 

 closer together 



than is the case with the true Mice, almost 

 in the proportion of three to two. and 

 the tail is very fleshy, measuring, without 

 the hair, about four millimetres across, 

 and double this with the hair. The hair 

 grows on it in a succession of whorls, and 

 its under surface presents in a good light 

 a distinctly banded appearance. 



In his active period — say April to 

 November — there is little doubt that the 

 Dormouse employs his tail as a para- 

 chute. He is a prodigious leaper, but 

 his movements are generally so quick 

 and so difficult to follow among the 



* Since writing the above my small friend has died. 

 A pcst-moriem revealed that half his upper jaw had 

 been carried away also. 



THE DORMOUSE. 

 Showing the large size of his eyes and stoutness of his feet and hands. 



branches, that I have not been able to 

 satisfy myself of the way he carries his 

 tail in jumping. I am inclined to think 

 that it is arched downwards, and that 

 its hair, as well as the hair on his sides, 

 spreads out and steadies his flight. 



The Dor- 

 mouse sleeps, 

 after the 

 fashion of 

 mouse-kin d, 

 with his head 

 tucked down, 

 his four limbs 

 brought well 

 together and 

 his tail swept 

 round outside 

 him. 



During h i - 

 bernation, 

 however — that 

 unconscious 

 portion of his 

 existence from 

 which p r e - 

 sumably h i s 

 nickname 

 " Sleeper " is 

 derived — his 

 attitude is, as 

 may be seen 

 from the pic- 

 ture (p. 104), 

 peculiarly con- 

 strained. 



Animal hi- 

 bernation has 

 but httle in 

 common with sleep. It may be roughly 

 defined as a condition of torpidity induced 

 by a fall of body temperature, and in 

 some of its features — rigidity, for example, 

 and response to certain stimuli — presents 

 an hypnotic character. 



Hibernation may be complete or partial. 

 In complete hibernation, a condition which 

 is induced in the Donnouse by a fall of 

 body temperature a degree or two below 

 50° F.. the vital functions are. to all out- 

 ward apjiearance, completely suspendetl. 



The Mouse has no jiowcr of voluntary 

 motion ; its breathing is impcrcciitible ; 

 it is cold to the touch. Anyone un- 

 acquainted with the condition would cer- 

 tainly assume it to be dead. 



