HABITS OF THE DORMOUSE- 
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peculiarly retiring habits, passing, as it does, four or five months of the year in a 
deep sleep, and even in summer hardly ever making its appearance till the 
evening. 
The Common Dormouse is so equivocal in its character, that whilst some na¬ 
turalists have classed it with the Squirrel geRus (Sciurus), others, with greater 
plausibility, have ranked it as a mouse (Mus) ; to both it presents singular claims, 
existing in the woods, on nuts, acorns, and seeds, constructing its dormitory in 
the underwood of thickets, and becoming torpid on the approach of winter; it 
thus far partakes of the nature of the Squirrel tribe. But in external appearance, 
and in its gait, and quiet stealthy nocturnal movements, it is certainly a Mouse 5 
and as such has been classed by Linnaeus and Ray. From its unconquerable 
disposition to somnolency, and resemblance to both these tribes, one might call it 
a “ sleeping partner ” between the two. 
In Bingley’s Animal Biography^ under the head of “ Dormice in general,” it is 
stated “ that their pace is a kind of leap, in which, like the Jerboas, they are 
assisted with the tail >” a remark not agreeing with the observations I have made 
on my little pet. 
For upwards of five months, at different times, I have tried its paces, fast and 
slow, but never yet saw it take a leaping movement, save when an obstacle has 
been purposely placed in its way. The tail of the animal, when running, is held 
out on a line with its body, except when very animated; then it is elevated with 
a slight curl over the back. The same author has said, with reference to its 
drinking,—“ when thirsty, they do not lap like most other quadrupeds, but dip 
their fore feet, with the toes bent, into the water, and drink from them.” This 
possibly may be the case with some varieties of the Dormouse, but certainly it is 
not with the common or English kind. On the contrary, it laps like a Cat, and 
drinks in no other way; nor does the forefoot, from its construction, appear 
capable of being used as a “ drinking-vessel,” its palm being neither broad nor 
deep, but narrow, with a thickening or rise at the wrist, to which the four fingers 
shut very closely. The fore paw has no thumb, whilst the hinder foot has four 
perfect prehensile toes and a thumb, without the first joint or claw. On taking, 
a torpid Dormouse into the hand, it imparts a sensation of cold, evidently showing 
the temperature of the animal to be lower than that of the human body. In the 
form of a little hairy ball, encircled with its tail, its head quite buried in the fold 
of its body, motionless and chill, you doubt its being a thing of life, till, by closer 
observation, you perceive its heart beating, slowly and gently, but unceasingly. 
Passing whole months in this tranquil state, without food and scarcely 
breathing, it yet possesses a sensibility to pain, and will, if warmed by the fire, 
unbend, awake, and become active and lively, but soon relapses into its deathlike 
torpor. In the summer months it passes the whole day in sleep, and it is so averse 
