PLANT HUNTING AND RECORDING IN ESSEX 25
They are obviously accustomed to this interference, and conscious
of the safety of the undergrowth. The ground here is covered
with leaves, apart from the track which is well-used and beaten
down and is often used by the Badgers.
It will be seen from the graph that some explanation is needed
for the difference in emergence times at the three setts. It seems
from the observations, that cover is the most important factor
involved, and if this is plentiful, the Badger will tolerate the
proximity and noise of mankind, and will still emerge early. The
ground and noise underfoot does not seem to matter much, so
long as there is cover. The behaviour of the Badger seems to be
to hurry out of earshot, when it has left the sett, with frequent
pauses for listening. If disturbed in thick cover, it seems to pre-
fer to lie low rather than make a dash for home. The weather
affects the emergence times on occasion, but this factor is not
strong enough to make any difference to the comparison of the
three setts. A very wet night or strong wind will delay emergence
as will a bright moon, but the latter does not really apply in the
forest setts because the trees stop some of the moonlight, especi-
ally in the summer when they are in full leaf. It will be
interesting to compare the emergence times of these setts at a
future date to see if their pattern is still the same.
I am indebted to the following members of the club for their
records and observations at the setts in question; F. B. Plumb,
W. Page, D. Corke.
Plant Hunting and Recording in Essex
S. T. Jermyn
Since the end of the war, I have systematically kept records
of plants occurring in Essex on a loose-leaf card index by parishes.
This method has disadvantages because it does not quickly show
a distribution pattern. In order to achieve this I decided to make
a map for each plant, using the 10 km. square system on the Field
Club Recorders map.
Mr. B. T. Ward kindly loaned me his card index, which I
incorporated with my own for this purpose. The first task was to
find the square number for each parish, and to do this I made an
alphabetical list of over 500 place names in the county, for refer-
ence as I worked through the cards.
I did this work in the winter of 1959-60 and made a map for
each plant, showing it once only for each square in which it had
been recorded. In order to get a more comprehensive picture of
distribution I then transferred these records on to large sheets,