DORMICE will soon be enjoying better accommodation thanks to the efforts of local Scouts.

During lockdown, the 1st Charmouth Cubs & Scouts built over 20 dormouse boxes from cedar wood for the Dorset Wildlife Trust to put out.

Although these were sawn up into kits in the workshop at Monkton Wyld Court, thanks to one of the parents, the Cubs and Scouts still had to cut the wood in the right places, drill holes and assemble everything in the correct order.

Building the dormouse boxes was the idea of Nick Gray, West Dorset Conservation Officer at the Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT), when he was asked if there was a useful project the Cubs and Scouts could get involved with.

Mr Gray was on hand last week to collect the boxes from the Cubs and told the youngsters a few interesting facts about dormice and how they live on the common.

Kevin Payne, Cub Scout Leader, said: “It was a real 'win-win' situation. Our members got to do something really useful when we could not meet in our HQ, and the DWT gained 20 boxes to set out.”

Mr Gray added: “We were delighted to hear how many boxes had been made. The DWT will be inviting the Cubs over to Powerstock Common to see the dormouse boxes in position and hear about our monitoring programme for these delightful little arboreal mammals."

Dormice are an endangered species and are protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

In autumn, dormice start looking for the perfect spot to hibernate for winter. They often choose to sleep in logs or leaves at the base of trees or just beneath the ground where they can avoid the winter cold.

Dormouse boxes provide shelter and a place to hibernate for protected dormice and other small mammals. In addition, they are used to monitor the dormouse populations on the common.

In a further link with the DWT, members of the Seagulls Explorer Scout Unit built three barn owl boxes from plywood and batten. These will be handed out to local farmers to put up in their barns and outbuildings.