COMMON MAMMALS
There are many species listed in the checklist (page 23) which are common
and widespread in the south-east of England, have almost certainly bred in
Epping Forest over the whole of the last century and probably for much longer.
Detailed surveys of these species have not been made and only a few general
comments are given.
Insectivores
Amongst the Insectivora, hedgehogs, moles and common shrews are
common as they were in Laver's (1898) time. Pigmy shrews have only been
found a few times in the Forest but this is probably the result of under-
recording. Judging from the Essex survey (Corke and Harris, 1972) about a fifth
of forest shrews will be pigmy shrews. Water shrews were recorded by Buxton
(1898) and are widespread in Essex today. The absence of recent Epping Forest
records probably indicates that they are rare rather than extinct.
Rabbits and hares
Buxton (1898) noted that rabbit numbers were 'not great' but the range
was wide. More recently rabbits were common until myxomatosis in 1955. In
the early 1960's rabbit numbers had recovered and they were reported as far
south as the Green Man roundabout, Leytonstone (Seear, 1964). Now rabbit
numbers seem lower and they are found mostly near the edge of the Forest
where it borders farmland.
Buxton (1898) says that brown hares 'are found throughout the northern
part of the Forest in moderate numbers'. This is still true.
Rodents
The brown rat had replaced the black rat in the forest over a century ago.
(Although black rats are still found in London docks and warehouses). Water
voles were abundant according to Buxton (1898) and although there are several
more recent records from (for example) Knighton Woods, they no longer seem
to be common. Field voles have long been known to be common in grassy areas
of the Forest. Laver (1898) thought bank voles were rare but this resulted from
confusion with field voles (Corke and Harris, 1972). Bank voles are commoner
than field voles and probably always have been.
Wood mice are common in all parts of the Forest but yellow-necked mice
(which were not known from Essex in Laver's time (1898)), were found for the
first time in the Forest in the Galleyhill area in 1967 and at Birch Hall in 1968.
They appear to be absent from the southern parts of the Forest (Corke and
Harris, 1974). Buxton (1898) did not record harvest mice from the Forest. They
have been found on Whitehouse Plain in the early 1970's and probably occur in
other areas of tussocky grass (Corke and Harris, 1972). Records of house mice
are few but the species is probably common in and around Forest houses.
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