Dormouse

dormouse Myoxus glis, distinguished from other dormice (such as shared tea with the March Hare and the Hatter) by being called the fat or edible dormouse. This rodent inhabits much of S., C., and E. Europe and was appreciated by the Romans in classical times as food. They fattened dormice on special diets, then stuffed and baked them. An adult dormouse may measure 18 cm (7"), head and body, and has a tail of about equal length. The modern European country with the strongest dormouse tradition is slovenia. Dormouse hunting has long been customary there, the animal being valued for fur as well as for meat. Modern visitors to a dormouse museum may view the many devices that trapped, it was said, up to 800,000 animals in the 1873 season.