We Released Dormice. I Lost Sleep.

I spent weeks prepping for this release—twenty dormice, each with a name I’ll never remember, each a number in a spreadsheet I’ll stare at until my eyes ache. We call it conservation, but mostly it’s waiting for something not to die. I watched the cages, checked the food, logged every movement like it would matter to someone. I wanted to feel hope. Instead, I felt the weight of every failed reintroduction, every headline about decline, every time I told a volunteer it was worth it. The truth is, I’m not sure who I’m trying to save: the dormice, or the part of me that still believes this changes anything. #ConservationFatigue #FieldworkTruths #ScienceExhaustion #Science