THE SMALL MAMMALS OF ESSEX
13
Forest until 1943. Huggins (1956) records that it was thinly dis-
tributed in the woodlands of the Rochford Hundred. It used to
occur in the Belfairs Nature Reserve but Hunford (1969) reports
that it has not been seen in recent years. The recent records
shown on the map are for the most part single sightings or
animals found dead. From the Margaretting, Billericay and Dan-
bury areas there have been two or more reports from the same
locality.
Judging from the number of records, in comparison with
those for other small mammals, this species would be regarded
as very rare in Essex. However, there is some evidence that the
Dormouse is more common than the records suggest. The large
quantity of records for the other species result from successful
trapping and bottle-hunting. Neither of these methods has pro-
vided any Dormice. Morris (1970) has found the remains of two
Dormice in a bottle in Surrey. The bottle was found wedged in a
bush and is the only report of bottled Dormice from well over
1,000 bottles so far examined. Hurrell (personal communication)
has found that captive Dormice living in a large shed were diffi-
cult to catch in Longworth traps. From the available records
Coptfold is one of the Essex strongholds of this species. This is
one area where a long and continuous programme of trapping
has been carried out; and yet not one Dormouse has been trap-
ped, even though some of the trapping was done with the traps
fitted in bushes and trees. Many of the records are from woods-
men coppicing and ditching. Recently records from the Back-
warden reserve have come from conservation workers similarly
engaged. If we had to rely on casual records of Woodmice even
that species would seem rare.
Little is known about the biology of wild Dormice. Captive
ones live up to six years (Hurrell 1962) but most small rodents
live two or three times as long in captivity than is normal in the
wild. Thus if a comparatively short-lived and presumably not
extremely wide-ranging species is to exist as a breeding popula-
tion, then either they must live in extremely localised small
colonies or they cannot be as rare as the Dormouse seems to be.
All the records are from coppice woodlands. Epping Forest
has tended towards high forest since Laver's day and this prob-
ably explains the disappearance of the Dormouse from that area.
If someone would devote sufficient time to discovering a way
of detecting the presence of Dormice it is probable that the
species would be found to be a normal inhabitant of most Essex
coppice woodlands.
Harvest Mouse (Micromys minutus (Pallas)) Map 5
Laver: "This very beautiful and active little creature occurs
in all parts of Essex. In winter time it is found in corn-stacks,
especially those placed in fields, and most frequently, I think, in
oat-ricks. I have never discovered more than a dozen in one rick,