Thorn Wood, Sandon. There was a report also of one near Chelmsford Golf
Course and tracks, thought to be of a red stag, were reported at Danbury by
Brian Eastcott in December 1965 and January 1966. However, a fallow buck
was seen at Galleywood in December 1965 and Tutt (1969) refers to a fallow
deer being present at East Hanningfield about 1965. Apart from the Chelms-
ford record, all the fallow and red deer records are within 4 km of each other
and probably relate to the same animal, the identity of which remains un-
certain. In 1966, I thought the animal was probably a red deer stag and the
same as the one at Langford. This idea now appears unlikely. The Langford red
deer stag was seen in that vicinity from early November 1965 to late April 1966.
It is possible, but unlikely, that this animal spent a day or two in the Danbury-
East Hanningfield-Chelmsford area in December 1965 before returning to
Langford. The most likely explanation is that the Danbury 'stag' was a fallow
deer; bucks are still frequently referred to as 'stags'.
Reports of a red deer stag in Lower Boishall Wood, Navestock were
received from October 1965 to March 1966. However, the observer's reference
to white on the animal's tail suggests that the animal was a fallow buck. Fallow
deer are very common in this area. A red deer stag was, however, seen in a field
near Church Wood, Navestock in July 1971 by an observer familiar with wild
red deer on both Exmoor and the Ouantocks.
In March 1967, a gamekeeper reported the recent arrival of a red deer stag
in Garnetts Wood, Great Dunmow, and, in the same month, tracks were seen in
High Rodingbury Wood at High Roding. A red deer was also reported amongst
fallow deer on Woolard's Ash Farm, Hatfield Broad Oak at various times in the
early part of 1967. A red deer hind was seen in Hatfield Forest in the winter of
1966-1967 and two red deer stags were shot close by, at Harps Farm, Great
Hallingbury, in September 1969. One of the deer had a fine set of antlers, the
other none. A red deer stag was seen feeding with fallow deer at Prior's Wood,
Widdington in September 1971 and a stag, possibly the same animal, was seen
in a field in Debden, less than 2 km away, in February 1972.
The tracks of a red deer stag were seen near Belfair Wood, Southend-on-
Sea in November 1968 and the deer was seen in the wood in April 1969 (Tutt,
1969) and elsewhere in the area several times during 1969. In November 1969, a
red deer stag was seen grazing with cattle at Whitecrofts Farm, Orsett (Anon.,
1969a) about 20 km south-west of the earlier sightings; it was seen also at
Linford gravel pits the same weekend (Anon., 1969b). The deer spent the winter
in the West Tilbury area but was shot in March 1970 after getting a metal chair
frame stuck on its antlers (Anon., 1970). By a strange coincidence, another red
deer stag was captured in a compound at the Mobil oil refinery at Coryton in
October 1976, only about 8 km from where the previous stag was shot in 1970.
The Coryton stag was captured by an RSPCA inspector and liberated in Epping
Forest (Anon., 1976-1977). A few days later, a red deer stag was seen in
Theydon Bois. Subsequently there were numerous reports of a stag in south-
west Essex, even as far south as Wanstead Park (Anon., 1976). A red deer stag,
presumably the same animal, was killed in an accident on the A11 road between
the Wake Arms and Epping in January 1977 (Anon., 1977).
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