For Lewis Carroll’s fictional character, see The Dormouse. Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe, vegetable fricassee are particularly known for their long periods of hibernation.
United Kingdom, in everyday English usage “dormouse” can refer either to that one species or to the family as a whole. The English name of the species derived from the French dormeuse, and the latter in turn possibly from the Languedocien radourmeire. Concerning the dormouse’s name, etymonline says “long-tailed Old World rodent noted for its state of semi-hibernation in winter, early 15c. They are generally mouse-like in appearance, but with furred, rather than scaly, tails.
Dormice are omnivorous, and typically feed on berries, flowers, fruits, insects, and nuts. They are unique among rodents in that they lack a cecum, a part of the gut used in other species to ferment vegetable matter. They can live for as long as five years. The young are born hairless and helpless, and their eyes do not open until about 18 days after birth.
They typically become sexually mature after the end of their first hibernation. The little dormouse, sleeping in the winter nest. One of the most notable characteristics of those dormice that live in temperate zones is hibernation. They can hibernate six months out of the year, or even longer if the weather does not become warm enough, sometimes waking for brief periods to eat food they had previously stored nearby.