I’m worried about what we’re doing to nature, especially these cuties

I AM increasingly worried these days about the once beautiful world that we inhabit.

Humankind doesn’t need to seek out extra-terrestrial refuges and should concentrate on our own beautiful planet fed by the Sun, which provides light, warmth and life itself.

We also have the moon which, among other things, drives our tides.

Humankind seems to be on a mission to destroy Earth whether through pointless conflict or a nonsensical drive for economic growth.

Since I was born in 1959 the world’s population has more than doubled and the pressure on nature for resources is unsustainable and out of control.

Domesticated animals that we consume or care for and feed for companionship outnumber those clinging on in the wild. There are more pigs than humans in Denmark.

But in our small corner of England we can celebrate to a minor degree. South Oxfordshire is lucky to have a large extent of tree cover in the Chiltern woods.

But the UK has the lowest percentage of forest in Western Europe. This needs to be preserved but also enlarged with sensitive planting for posterity and the future of dependent wildlife, from woodland flowers to animals.

Not having any dependants, whatever I can leave in my will will be split between the Woodland Trust and the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

I am a member of both charities so my wish is to support the natural world through a shared concern for the world that I love.

In our woods a small, cute little creature still exists — just.

The hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) has been reintroduced into various suitable sites and there is hope that the species can survive.

The hazel dormouse is the sole species of its genus. It is akin to rare woodland orchids, a “thermometer” of overall woodland sustainability and health.

Once a relatively common inhabitant of hazel coppice and natural woodland, its numbers have plummeted alarmingly since recording began — by 50 per cent over the last 25 years.

The hazel dormouse is one of the cutest creatures that I have seen, albeit only in photographs.

Less than four inches long, it has a light golden colour with a fluffy tail, eyes like elderberries and dinky ears.

I’d love to see one but the reason I have not yet done so is that it’s nocturnal.

In late spring and summer it only ventures forth between dusk and dawn looking for sustenance, particularly berries, fruit and insects or aphids. It fattens up on hazelnuts in autumn.

The hazel dormouse hardly ever sets foot on the ground apart from, on occasion, creating a hibernaculum, a cosy winter nest in a wood pile or tree crevice to see out the colder months.

Most of their active lives are exclusively arboreal. After an extraordinarily long hibernation, they roam around the trees from late April to late October. Then off they go to sleep again after their nut and perhaps sloe feast.

I do know that the dormouse is present in BBOWT’s glorious Warburg reserve at Bix Bottom so I started a quest to see if I could find any evidence of the species across the hazel-filled woods in the wider area.

Some years ago Rosemary and I went to see Jon Hatt, who farms on a delightful edge of the Chilterns near Hill Bottom, part of Goring Heath parish.

He had invited us on a tour of his realm, which includes a scenic coombe which he maintains as chalk grassland.

This contains a variety of wild orchids, which is unsurprising as it is in close to BBOWT’s Hartslock nature reserve.

We were taken on a long walk that took in a small copse. Jon thought that this might hold a number of the elusive creatures.

It did look promising but I’ll need to return to verify their existence as I now know the tell-tale indicators.

I have found conclusive evidence of the presence of the hazel dormouse elsewhere.

Two or three years ago, Rosemary and I were walking northwards on a track that leads to Chalkhouse Green. It is a wonderful lane with a huge variety of trees, shrubs and flowers, notably an abundance of common limes, bluebells, yellow archangel, greater stitchwort and so much more.

On approaching a dip on our pathway we came upon the entrance to a copse that I’d not visited since my teens.

Whipping out my Ordnance Survey Explorer Chiltern Hills West map, it indicated a right of way through the inviting canopy. This was an error on behalf of the OS and the detail has been removed from the latest edition.

What we entered was a true sylvan paradise. We were confronted by the largest spread of bluebells that we had ever seen. There were extensive carpets of white-flowered wood anemonies, interspersed with glorious patches of yellow archangel.

The trees were impressive too. As we ventured further into the woods we found wind-shaped hornbeams, yews, pedunculate oak, aged cherries and beech.

Under hazel trees I picked up and examined the hollow shells of the previous year’s hazelnuts which I took home to examine because of the small tooth marks on them.

I discovered that the shells were indeed the work of the hazel dormouse. This made me so happy — they existed.

My friend Richard Fortey has found incontrovertible evidence of the dormouse’s presence in his portion of Lambridge Wood.

He has in his collection of artefacts and curiosities a used dormouse hibernaculum found there. He tells me that on awakening, the dormice climb up to the top of cherry trees where they consume cherry blossom. The nectar gives them a sugar boost. Clever little things.

vincent.ruane@hotmail.com