The Essex Naturalist
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using what is known of current deer behaviour. There are some bufferlands
within the 'Motorway box' which could be used to increase the black deer
population. North of the M.25 the deer can be treated as part of an open
population of Essex deer of mixed coat colour. Reducing roadkills would be very
desirable particularly at the Lower forest. It is present policy to reduce the deer
population north west of the forest by culling.
The roadkill situation is already being addressed by the Corporation of
London, and trials of deer reflectors are already underway at Thornwood. There
will, however, always be road deaths while the current large volume of traffic
continues to travel through the forest at its present speed on the A. 104 and
B.1393. It would be helpful if commuters through the forest could be encouraged
to reduce speed at key points, perhaps by speed ripples or road narrowing, or to
use the M.11 route north/south instead. This may be difficult to achieve in
practice.
Another measure which could reduce deer casualties is the introduction of
more advanced road signs that could display an appropriate message for the
season or time of day. This would alert drivers to the key danger sites and times,
and induce more cautious driving. Another measure might be to display the
number of deer killed this year and last year with their locations.
Deerlawns have been introduced in Epping Thicks, Pizzlepits and the Lower
Forest. These may be valuable in terms of increasing ground flora and
invertebrates as an indirect effect of grazing, but the substantial use of them by
deer has yet to be ascertained. It seems possible that they would be occasionally
used by deer grazing in their home range. Reclaiming areas which have
undergone scrub encroachment may reduce cover for deer and increase visitor
pressure. Felling trees to create a deerlawn is contraindicated, the fallow go to
the forest to lie up, not principally to graze. Removing trees and seeding grass is
unlikely to be as successful as leaving the trees in place and facilitating the deer's
access to better grazing outside the forest.
References
Addison, Sir W., 1977. Portrait of Epping Forest. Lowe and Brydone Ltd.
Avery, S., 1997. Fallow Deer in Epping Forest. B.Sc Research, University of the South Bank.
Bignell, J., 1993. Genetics of coat colour inheritance in fallow deer. Proceedings of the first world
forum on fallow deer farming, Mudgee.
Bramble, J.A., 1968. London's Epping Forest. Bramble.
Buxton, E.N., 1923. Epping Forest. Edward Stanford.
Chapman, D., 1977. Deer of Essex. The Essex Field Club.
Chapman, D, and Chapman, N., 1975. Fallow deer, their history, distribution and biology. Terence
Dalton.
- , 1978. Fallow deer.(2nd rev. ed.) British Deer Society and Donald and Norma Chapman.
Cole, W., (1887,1896, 1897, 1898, 1901). Essex Naturalist. Vol 1, p46 - 63, vol.9, p59, vol 10,
p292.vol. 11, p52, vol. 13 p38-39.
Corke, D., 1979. The mammals of Epping Forest. London : The Essex Field Club.