We occasionally buy seed based treat sticks for George the Dormouse. He hangs from them to eat and can demolish one in a few days.

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A few weeks ago I tried to take a photo of George, our pygmy dormouse, eating some fruit. Over various days I put different pieces of fruit on the table in his cage, starting with strawberries. I put my camera on a tripod, focussed on the fruit and waited for him to appear. As soon as he approached the fruit I would reach for the camera to take a photo, but he was so fast and either disappeared as soon as my hand moved or grabbed the fruit and ran off with it.

I decided to buy a remote control for the camera so I could get the camera set up and then sit back so I could watch the cage and take a photo without moving and scaring him. I found out that my camera (a Nikon D40) would work with an infra-red remote control so I ordered one and waited for it to arrive.

After the remote control arrived I tried again but with a slice of melon. I thought that since the slice was as big as he was, it would slow him down a bit and I would have a better chance of getting a photo. He was still too fast and all I got was a photo of a retreating furry bum.

A few days later I tried again but this time attached the melon to a metal 'skewer' which is designed to attach wooden blocks and nibbling treats. It took several attempts before I managed to get a reasonable photo of him eating.

Yesterday Emma finally finished building the 'house' for George Henry B.E.F.T, our new dormouse. We put the glass in the doors and left it overnight before we put him in it this morning. Here are a few photos of the new cage along with some occupants.

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Yesterday we drove down to Abingdon to collect our latest small furry animal - an african pygmy dormouse we have named George Henry Big-Ears-Fluffy-Tail. Since they live for 5-6 years, Emma decided she wanted to give him a 'human' name. The 'Big-Ears-Fluffy-Tail' bit was just a joke name until we could think of a proper name for him.