Dormice are usually found in Europe. Their name is derived from the French "dormice" meaning -"to sleep", and it's it their habit of spending cold winter months in a deep sleep. They store up fat in their bodies during Autumn and lay a good supply of food in their nest should they actually arise from their deep slumbers - with tails over head that has made them famous............they wake in spring time SO CUTE xoxox
Thanks for posting these. I used to have some dwarf hamsters. They were as sweet as these little bugs look!
ReplyDeleteThe French word for "to sleep" isn't "dormice", it's "dormir", like the Spanish. The "dorm" in dormice comes, via the French, from the Latin stem "dorm-" (dormire is Latin for to sleep). The "mice" part is exactly what it sounds like, the English plural of mouse. So, it's a sleep-mouse.
ReplyDeletecheers,
an anonymous, random smart-ass on the internet (aarsoti)