1 October β 30 April
the coastal calendar, unshifted
Beech and oak canopy at night; also lofts, where it is loud and unwelcome.
In a year with no beech mast, dormice skip breeding entirely rather than raise a litter they cannot feed β one of the few mammals that reads the trees before committing. Croatian puh trapping is a licensed autumn tradition older than the state.
photos, sightings and recordings, off this site
where this species is on the list
| Phase | When | Length | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| hibernating | 1 October β 30 April | 212 days | True hibernation: body temperature drops and the animal cannot simply wake. Seven months underground β the longest hibernation of any mammal on this page. |
| going about the year | 1 May β 14 June | 45 days | Feeding, holding territory, doing nothing the calendar singles out. |
| courting | 15 June β 9 July | 25 days | Song, display, fighting, scent-marking β pairs forming or reaffirming. |
| pregnant | 10 July β 4 August | 26 days | Pregnant. Nothing to see from outside, which is why the dates matter. |
| raising young | 5 August β 4 September | 31 days | Dependent young in the nest, den or burrow, being fed. |
| young out of the den | 5 September β 30 September | 26 days | Young out of the nest or den, but still fed and followed by the adults. |