Journal of Proceedings. ccix
pronounce the two animals to be the same species. The specimen I saw
at Walden is believed now to be in the Chelmsford Museum."
From the above facts there can be little doubt that the origin of the
two Epping Forest strangers (be they jackals or prairie wolves) was
similar—they were imported, as supposed fox cubs, for replenishing the
stock of native " rascals " for the hunt. It is very probable that more
than one existed in the forest (circa 1880-2), and that they did
considerable damage. Remembering that "Charlie" was one of three
cubs, it is possible that the animals bred in the forest or even that they
paired with native foxes, whose " earths " are not uncommon in Monks
Wood and elsewhere.
A report crept into the newspapers in 1886 that another " prairie
wolf " had been killed near North Weald Station ; but on seeing the
animal, Mr. Bartlett pronounced it to be merely a common fox.
[Editorial Note.—The first series of the ' Proceedings of the
Essex Field Club' terminates with the present sheet. On and after
January, 1887, the ' Transactions ' and ' Proceedings' of the Club were
combined and issued as a journal entitled ' The Essex Naturalist.']