6
THE ESSEX NATURALIST
Roydon and Waltham Abbey may be due to past gamekeeping
operations.
Low Lying Areas
On Canvey Island, at least three setts were reported in 1967
from the urban area; one sett being in the grounds of a convent,
another running partly under a bungalow, where two cubs and a
sow were removed from the sett in both 1966 and 1967, the holes
being each year filled with concrete under the building, and a
further sett, the main one, being in a builders merchant's wood-
yard. By 1972 the builder's woodyard had been completely sur-
faced with concrete, but badgers still live in the vicinity of the
convent. Apart from being most unlikely habitats for badgers it
is surprising that the animals here survived the disastrous flood-
ing in 1953. The whole island was flooded for several days with
the loss of many human lives, the flood tide on the night of 31st
January, 1953, rising to a height of 15.68 feet A.O.D. on the tide
gauge on Southend Pier (Grieve 1959). The highest point on the
island is only about 16 feet above sea level, and the setts are be-
low this so that they must have suffered severe flooding. The
owner of the woodyard says that the badgers climbed up amongst
the woodpiles but how the badgers on neighbouring Two Tree
Island survived, where there are no such "refuges", is a mystery.
It is, however, possible that since the 1953 floods, they came on
to this Island by the causeway bridge from the mainland.
No definite badger setts are known from Foulness or the
associated islands, although according to Benton (1867) in 1841
a badger was found in the sea wall of White House Farm, and
one made his appearance in New England about the same time.
Badger footprints have been seen since 1962 on the Island and
although not ideal country, as badgers occur on Canvey Island
and further north in the Bradwell area, it is not too improbable
that they do survive on Foulness.
Further north on the Dengie Peninsular, this has not in the
past been considered as badger territory, being too flat and liable
to flooding, but P. Carter and R. Allen have found setts in many
parts. The badger does not seem particularly thick on the ground
here, but does occur sporadically, a sett even being in the edge
of a dyke which is less than 5 feet A.O.D.
No definite setts are known on Mersea Island, and know-
ledge of the area between Colchester and Harwich is too sparse
to allow comment.
Epping Forest
There are now no active setts known on the public parts of
the Forest. At the beginning of the 1960's there were two setts
in use which, so far as is known, had previously both been breed-
ing setts for many years. The sett on Loughton Camp was last
known active in September 1961, and during that month a sow