April. 1923. The Irish Naturahst. 33 



IS THE SQUIRREL A NATIVE OF 



IRELAND ? 



BY C. B. MOFFAT, B.A. 



As Dr. Scharff and Mr. Le Fanu have recently pointed out 

 in this Journal (vol. xxxi, pp. 51-4 and 83-4), there is now 

 unquestioned proof of Squirrels having inhabited Ireland 

 in historical times, long before the period at which they 

 began to be introduced ; and the fact of their having 

 survived and furnished skins for wholesale exportation 

 down to at least the closing years of the 17th century has 

 not unnaturally prompted the question whether they may 

 not in some of the better-wooded parts of the country have 

 continued to hold their own until replantation of demesnes 

 encouraged them once more to spread and become common. 

 The case for this view is briefly stated by Dr. Scharli, where 

 he observes that " in the i8th century there still existed 

 large woods scattered about the country in which a few 

 Squirrels may have survived." 



My object in contributing a few words on this subject 

 is not to dispute the possibility of such survival having 

 taken place, but to adduce what I regard as a strong reason 

 for believing that the Squirrels which now inhabit Ireland 

 — or at any rate the eastern part of our island — are des- 

 cended only from imported animals. 



In that part of County Wexford in which most of my 

 own field-studies have been carried on, there still stands 

 a considerable expanse of old natural wood — the remains 

 of the once celebrated Killoughrim Forest — which retains 

 to the present day many of the characteristics of almost 

 undisturbed virgin ground. It differs from the surrounding 

 country not only in the absence of introduced timber, but 

 also in being a home of such local and interesting inmates 

 as the Brown Hairstreak [Zephyrus betulce) and Dingy 

 Skipper {Thanaos tages) butterflies, the large Wood Ant 

 {Formica rufa), and the great heath-haunting spider [Epeira 

 quadrata), none of which are to be found (unless by rare 



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