11/5/2004: Dormant dormice

Undertoad · 11-05-2004, 11:05 AM

Sleeping dormice, described as "torpid". This is apparently the winning photograph of the BBC TV Countryfile photographic competition. The official caption says The image was taken by Steven Robinson at Wakehurst Place in southern England as part of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew's monitoring program of this endangered species in conjunction with English Nature.

IotD previously featured a dormouse here with more information on them from blase.

11-05-2004, 11:14 AM

wow those are some ugly little critters

wolf · 11-05-2004, 11:16 AM

No wonder they are endangered. They fall off into a dead sleep like that, they're much easier to step on.

Where's the Mad Hatter in that picture, though. I don't see him. Or Alice.

The Chesire Cat's right there, of course ...

Cyber Wolf · 11-05-2004, 12:26 PM

I wish my mice and rats would do that. Then I could pick them up and carry them about in my pocket with no worries of them using that as a chance to burrow under my shirt. Them things is adorable!

garnet · 11-05-2004, 12:41 PM

I like critters all right, but there's something a little creepy about those critters. They're just takin' a nice nap I guess.

axlrosen · 11-05-2004, 01:57 PM

I love how they curl their little toes up, like they're dreaming...

xoxoxoBruce · 11-05-2004, 06:30 PM

I wonder where "Dead as a Dormouse" comes from? The apparent lack of vital signs while they hibernate?
But they're not dead, they're mostly dead. Could they fool the cat? Would they be dead-i-cat-ed?
I'm sorry...I'll go now....

dar512 · 11-05-2004, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

But they're not dead, they're mostly dead.

"And mostly dead is partly alive." -- Miracle Max (speaking of witty movies)

capnhowdy · 11-05-2004, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I wonder where "Dead as a Dormouse" comes from? The apparent lack of vital signs while they hibernate?
But they're not dead, they're mostly dead. Could they fool the cat? Would they be dead-i-cat-ed?
I'm sorry...I'll go now....

I'm totally confused now. I always heard "dead as a doornail". What the hell?
If these critters were big enough I'd hug 'em!
Dormouse,doornail........I reckon they tell everyone in the South everything last.
xoB: the cat don't give a "rat's ass".

onetrack · 11-06-2004, 12:23 AM

My cat is salivating over that pic ... I'm having problems keeping her paws off the screen ..

It's sort of like showing a pic of 3 hot fresh Jumbo cheeseburgers to a Macca's addict ...

Wolf is right. No wonder they are endangered, sleeping dead-to-the-world, like that. They look like easy prey to any hunting animal, to me ..

wolf · 11-06-2004, 12:48 AM

They would probably do better if they were evolutionarily adapted to sleeping, say, within an electrified domed enclosure of some kind ...

Hmmm.

No opposable thumbs. Minimal access to technology.

Yeah, I guess they're doomed to extinction.

xoxoxoBruce · 11-06-2004, 04:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnhowdy

I'm totally confused now. I always heard "dead as a doornail". What the hell?
If these critters were big enough I'd hug 'em!
Dormouse,doornail........I reckon they tell everyone in the South everything last.
xoB: the cat don't give a "rat's ass".

Doornail? Why that's ridiculous. How could something that was never alive be........ok, ya got me.

Wonder if I had a lot of people doubting their memory. I've heard both plus doorknob with doornail most common. South has nothing to do with it. Up home the dust balls under the bed were kitties, whereas around here they're bunnies. Actually, around here (as in my here) they're prevalent and agressive enough to take down a small mammal.

With all the McDonalds/Walmart/Madison Ave homogenizing we've been subjected to, it's reassuring that these regional and local colloquilisms exist.

Katkeeper · 11-06-2004, 05:40 AM

Never heard of dust bunnies! Must not have made it into central Pa.

Cyber Wolf · 11-06-2004, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onetrack

Wolf is right. No wonder they are endangered, sleeping dead-to-the-world, like that. They look like easy prey to any hunting animal, to me ..

And yet, they managed to stick around for many many many many many years. If anything makes them extinct it'll be human encroachment/ loss of habitat. They don't lie around on the forest floor like that when they go dormant. They're found in nests made in/under bushes, in trees or treeholes if they can find one. Also, some people build and install nest boxes to give them a habitat and if the dormice find one, they'll be in there.They really wouldn't have lasted this long if they did just drop 'dead' wherever they might have been standing.

Sez here... and here too

Clodfobble · 11-06-2004, 09:01 AM

Never heard of dust bunnies! Must not have made it into central Pa.

I once was directed to a website that quizzed you on what words you used in some 80 different colloquialisms (e.g., what do you call the little black bug that curls up into a ball when you touch it?) and showed you a national graph of where each was prevalent. Not that I have any idea where that site is now.

11-05-2004, 11:05 AM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	11/5/2004: Dormant dormice Sleeping dormice, described as "torpid". This is apparently the winning photograph of the BBC TV Countryfile photographic competition. The official caption says The image was taken by Steven Robinson at Wakehurst Place in southern England as part of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew's monitoring program of this endangered species in conjunction with English Nature. IotD previously featured a dormouse here with more information on them from blase.

11-05-2004, 11:16 AM	#3
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	No wonder they are endangered. They fall off into a dead sleep like that, they're much easier to step on. Where's the Mad Hatter in that picture, though. I don't see him. Or Alice. The Chesire Cat's right there, of course ... __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

11-05-2004, 12:26 PM	#4
Cyber Wolf As stable as a ring of PU-239 Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: On a huge rock covered in water, highly advanced moss and 7 billion parasites Posts: 1,264	I wish my mice and rats would do that. Then I could pick them up and carry them about in my pocket with no worries of them using that as a chance to burrow under my shirt. Them things is adorable! __________________ "I don't see what's so triffic about creating people as people and then getting' upset 'cos they act like people." ~Adam Young, Good Omens "I don't see why it matters what is written. Not when it's about people. It can always be crossed out." ~Adam Young, Good Omens

11-05-2004, 06:30 PM	#7
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	I wonder where "Dead as a Dormouse" comes from? The apparent lack of vital signs while they hibernate? But they're not dead, they're mostly dead. Could they fool the cat? Would they be dead-i-cat-ed? I'm sorry...I'll go now.... __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

11-06-2004, 12:23 AM	#10
onetrack Coronation Incarnate Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Western Australia Posts: 99	My cat is salivating over that pic ... I'm having problems keeping her paws off the screen .. It's sort of like showing a pic of 3 hot fresh Jumbo cheeseburgers to a Macca's addict ... Wolf is right. No wonder they are endangered, sleeping dead-to-the-world, like that. They look like easy prey to any hunting animal, to me .. __________________ Illiterate??? - Not a problem! Write today for more information!! ....

11-05-2004, 11:14 AM	#2
cam2 Guest Posts: n/a	wow those are some ugly little critters

11-05-2004, 12:41 PM	#5
garnet ... Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 657	I like critters all right, but there's something a little creepy about those critters. They're just takin' a nice nap I guess.

11-05-2004, 01:57 PM	#6
axlrosen Major Inhabitant Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 125	I love how they curl their little toes up, like they're dreaming...

11-06-2004, 12:48 AM	#11
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	They would probably do better if they were evolutionarily adapted to sleeping, say, within an electrified domed enclosure of some kind ... Hmmm. No opposable thumbs. Minimal access to technology. Yeah, I guess they're doomed to extinction. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

11-06-2004, 05:40 AM	#13
Katkeeper Hoodoo Guru Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Mechanicsburg PA Posts: 296	Never heard of dust bunnies! Must not have made it into central Pa.

11-06-2004, 09:01 AM	#15
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	Never heard of dust bunnies! Must not have made it into central Pa. I once was directed to a website that quizzed you on what words you used in some 80 different colloquialisms (e.g., what do you call the little black bug that curls up into a ball when you touch it?) and showed you a national graph of where each was prevalent. Not that I have any idea where that site is now.

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