Country diary: the dormice are in their element

Bowden Down, West Devon: Hazelnuts help sustain these endearing mammals through their long winter hibernation, and I find a dozen of their discarded shellsStepping through a gap in the dense undergrowth, I come across a hidden track that runs north through a corridor of trees.Bordered on one side by an old field bank and overhung by oak and beech, the sheltered passageway is still and damp. Exposed roots and low branches are covered in a thick fleece of green moss and crooked cables of ivy wind up the sides of trunks like dodgy electrical wiring. Continue reading...