I bet you thought the dormouse was just a character in Alice in Wonderland and the Jefferson Aiplane song “White Rabbit”, but they are real animals. The Dormouse Hunting Museum is located next to Snežnik Castle in Cerknica, Slovenia. In this part of the world, dormice are believed to have been shepherded by Lucifer himself. So Slovenians don’t have a problem with killing them. The museum has various decapitation and crossbow traps as well as examples of different nooses once tied to tree branches (dormice are tree dwellers). Hunters make a big buck from selling dormouse meat, a local delicacy, but also from their fur for hats and capes. Polhovka is a distinctive fur cap prized by Slovenians, while dormouse fat is a much sought after machine oil. If you want to plan ahead, then you might want to check out the museum during the month of September, otherwise known as dormouse hunting season. Watch out for the traps!
Customer: “There’s a mouse in my soup!”
Waiter: “Oh, sir. It’s supposed to be in there. That’s Polšja obara or should I say dormouse stew.”
