Is it the cutest of our Champion Species? The hazel dormouse has a very high 'cute' factor with its furry tail and large black eyes. Share this one with your friends as everyone needs a cute little dormouse in their life.

Although it's called the hazel dormouse it eats a wide variety of flowers, leaf buds, insects and hedgerow fruits like hawthorn berries. It fattens up on hazel nuts in the autumn. You can tell if a hazel nut has been eaten by a dormouse as the hole it leaves in the shell is a perfect little circle. They love a good scrubby woodland, with lots of undergrowth and big, bountiful hedges.

The Champion Species are; adder, black oil beetle, Cheddar pink, greater horseshoe bat, hazel dormouse, skylark, small pearlbordered fritillary and water vole. What makes them 'champions'? They’re all threatened and vulnerable to disappearing from our lives. They all tell us how good, or not, the areas are where they live. And, they’re all quirky, conversationstarters!