Changes

[[Lewis Carroll]], the writer, included a dormouse in the [[Alice in Wonderland]] stories and portrayed it as a fat lazy creature. This is not far from the truth as the dormouse (named from the Latin ''Dormeus'' or "sleepy one") spends more than three quarters of its life asleep {{fact}}.

[[Lewis Carroll]], the writer, included a dormouse in the [[Alice in Wonderland]] stories and portrayed it as a fat lazy creature. This is not far from the truth as the dormouse (named from the Latin ''Dormeus'' or "sleepy one") spends more than three quarters of its life asleep {{fact}}.

Due to the human destruction of its traditional habitats, the dormouse is in decline. This has become a particular problem in certain [[British]] towns such as [[Hebden Bridge]] and [[York]] where basted, baked stuffed dormouse (normally stuffed with sage and leek) is something of a popular foodstuff. Hebden Bridge locals have experimented using water [[vole]]s from their famous [[canals]] in place of dormice whereas York residents have attempted to use the far more ubiquitous [[rat]] (rattus rattus) in the local dish "spoogie" (the name given to baked, seasoned dormouse ). This practice may have  a long pedigree: excavations at [[Housesteads]] and [[Vindolanda]] [[Roman]] forts on [[Hadrian's Wall]] have uncovered huge numbers of dormouse bones, both within the forts themselves and in the civilian settlements adjacent. Distribution patterns suggest that certain premises may have served as dormouse 'take-aways' (shops serving ready-cooked food).

Due to the human destruction of its traditional habitats, the dormouse is in decline. This has become a particular problem in certain [[British]] towns such as [[Hebden Bridge]] and [[York]] where basted, baked stuffed dormouse (normally stuffed with sage and leek) is something of a popular foodstuff. Hebden Bridge locals have experimented using water [[vole]]s from their famous [[canals]] in place of dormice whereas York residents have attempted to use the far more ubiquitous [[rat]] (rattus rattus) in the local dish "spoogie" (the name given to baked, seasoned dormouse ). This practice may have  a long pedigree: excavations at [[Housesteads]] and [[Vindolanda]] [[Roman]] forts on [[Hadrian's Wall]] have uncovered huge numbers of dormouse bones, both within the forts themselves and in the civilian settlements adjacent. Distribution patterns suggest that certain premises may have served as dormouse 'take-aways' (shops serving ready-cooked food). Dormice were apparently considered a delicacy in ancient Rome, either as a savoury appetizer or as a dessert (dipped in honey and poppy seeds). The Romans had a special kind of terracotta jar known as gliraria used to rear dormice for the table <ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/269.shtml</ref>.

 

 

[[Category:Meat]] [[Category:Rodents]]

[[Category:Meat]] [[Category:Rodents]]