SQUIRRELS IN ESSEX
65
This great change in the status of the Red Squirrel was not confined to
Essex but was seen throughout southern England at various years during
the period 1903 to 1914 (Middleton 1930, Shorten 1962). This was thought
to be due to an outbreak of disease, generally accepted to be coccidiosis
(Shorten 1954).
In a later note Stubbs (1923) gave further details of the decline in west
Essex. He recorded that 'In 1914 I noticed the scarcity of [red] squirrels
near Theydon, especially towards Navestock and Ongar, where, five years
before, I thought them normally common. The same scarcity had been
observed by others.' It appears that the native Red Squirrel was virtually
extinct in west Essex by 1917. The situation in the east of the county at
that time is unknown, but a similar decline probably occurred.
During this period of decline of the native Red Squirrel there is at least
one documented account of the introduction of continental Red Squirrels
to Epping Forest. This was effected in about 1910 by C. E. Green, who
purchased imported Red Squirrels at Leadenhall Street Market and
released them on his estate at Epping, so that by 1916 Stubbs (1923)
recorded jet-black and dark-tailed squirrels of continental origin near
Theydon. (The occurrence of both red and black colour phases is a
characteristic of the introduced subspecies not found in our endemic sub-
species, although the native animals can have quite dark pelage, including
dark tails, at certain times of the year.)
These introduced animals became troublesome, especially in gardens
near the golf links. Stubbs assumed that these animals were of the east-
central European race Sciurus vulgaris fuscoater Altum; two specimens of
continental squirrels killed on Piercing Hill, Theydon Bois, in 1918 were
presented by Stubbs to the Essex Museum of Natural History (catalogue
numbers 14061 and 14062). However, Fitter (1939) recorded that a Red
Squirrel collected in Epping Forest by F. J. Johnston in January 1936 was
identified by the British Museum as Sciurus vulgaris vulgaris Linnaeus, so
the subspecific identity of the introduced squirrels is subject to some doubt.
It seems that towards the end of the decade the introduced animals were
becoming less common. In 1919 Stubbs (1923) recorded an increase in the
number of squirrels at Theydon, most apparently being of the native race
(Sciurus vulgaris leucourus Kerr), which have very light tails in the summer.
However, animals with darkly coloured tails were still encountered, as
were melanistic squirrels, and these were presumably descended from the
introduced stock. The effect of this introduction persisted into the 1940s,
Shorten (1954) recording that black squirrels were not uncommon in
Epping Forest before the arrival of the Grey Squirrel, and giving a specific
example of one melanistic Red Squirrel in Parndon parish in 1943.
The effect of this introduction was to maintain a thriving population of
Red Squirrels in Epping Forest, while the native race declined over most
of the rest of Essex (and incidentally most of southern England) due to the
effects of coccidiosis.
Following this period of decline, the Red Squirrel population began to
recover between 1925 and 1930, not only in Essex but also in all areas of
the country not colonised by Grey Squirrels (Middleton 1930, Shorten
1962). By 1936 Wheeler (1958) recorded that Red Squirrels from Epping