The acorn mouse, which can almost only be found in South Limburg, is almost extinct. The animal is the most endangered rodent in the Netherlands.
That reports RTL News Monday night. Although the name suggests otherwise, the animal does not eat acorns and is not a real mouse.
Group between mice and squirrels
“It is a dormouse. That is a group of animals that falls between the mice and the squirrels,” Ellen van Norren of the Mammal Society told the news site. Recent counts show that there are still about 100 – 150 acorn mice in the Netherlands.
Sleeps half of the year
Van Norren is researching the acorn mouse, which is now even more endangered than the giant panda in China. “The acorn mouse is more like a squirrel; they also have a bushy tail and jump from branch to branch. They also have a very different life than the mouse. Acorn mice sleep half the year. When they come out of hibernation, they go like If they eat a silly one, they can have young, which have to be fattened up quickly so that they are ready for that half year of hibernation,” says Van Norren.
South Limburg
There is now only a small population in South Limburg. The province therefore set up a conservation plan in 2018 to prevent the animal from becoming extinct. Whether or not that plan will actually work remains to be seen. The acorn mouse likes to live in ‘junk corners’ in the woods and likes to eat insects and invertebrates. According to Van Norren, this can be disastrous due to the ‘raked’ state of the forests: “The acorn mice depend on these cluttered corners and on insects.”
State Forestry
The forests are now being ‘cleaned up’ less by Staatsbosbeheer and areas are connected by hedges. Nesting boxes have also been placed for the animals, such as in the Savelsbos in Gronsveld. GaiaZOO Zoo in Kerkrade has also started a breeding program in collaboration with other zoos in the country. “Hopefully the measures will be taken in time so that the current population can grow again,” concludes Van Norren.