Today’s dormouse day – unlike the name suggests – is not a commemorative day for the fluffy rodent with the button eyes, but goes back to a Christian legend. A peasant rule also attributes great importance for summer weather this day. Nevertheless, he would definitely deserve his own day of honor in Germany, because he is particularly deserved in many ways. A portrait.
The dormouse day is primarily known as a weather indicator. According to an old peasant rule, the weather on this day reveals how the summer will continue in the next few weeks: “How the weather behaves at the dormouse is ordered for seven weeks.” But what does that have to do with the animal of the same name? In fact, nothing, even if this is often incorrectly accepted. Instead, the name goes back to a Christian legend, which according to seven young Christians hid in a cave during the persecution of Christians. There they fell into a miraculous sleep and only woke up around 200 years later when they had nothing to fear.
World champion of hibernation
The dormouse (Glis Glis) is also great in sleeping. While many animals are satisfied with a few weeks or months, the rodent from the Bilche family is usually eight to nine. In extreme cases, the small rodent with the big eyes and the bushy tail can even spend up to eleven months in his winter quarters. This is a world record in the animal kingdom. In the low -food years, well -fed animals withdraw to hibernate in summer. Mostly the dormouse begins in September to build its hibernation. He digs a small cave, which is precisely suitable for him, half a meter deep into the ground.
Despite his otherwise more lives, the dormouse often shows a remarkable social behavior during hibernation: especially during cool phases, up to 16 animals nestle closely together to warm each other – a behavior that is particularly often observed in related individuals. In order to save energy during hibernation, the metabolism of the dormouse drives down, his heartbeat decreases from 300 to just a few strokes per minute. As a result, the rodent needs little oxygen and its fat reserves last a corresponding long.
Rumble, whistle, power feed
If the dormouse does not sleep, then the native rodent is on the road in the treetops of foliage and mixed forests. He also accepts human dwellings such as attics or garden huts. The subtenant often reveals himself through nightly rumbling or whistling calls. The dormant’s diet is versatile, but always energetic. His menu contains, among other things, bookkerchildren, acorns, nuts, berries and fruit. These calories are necessary to double your own body weight from about 100 to over 200 grams before winter – a prerequisite for survival for the extremely long hibernation.
The reproduction of the dormouse is also closely linked to the food supply. In so -called mast years, when books and oaks produce a particularly large number of seeds, the likelihood of young people increases significantly. However, if the seeds fail, the reproduction sometimes pauses completely. When it comes to birth, this typically happens in August. Then the female gives birth to two to nine young animals, each weighing about four grams – as much as two centers.
Source: Veterinary University of Vienna
