A HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 



RODENTIA 



1 8. Squirrel. Sciurus leucourus, Kerr. 



Bell Sciurus vulgaru. 



Common in woods and parks throughout 

 the county. 

 [Beaver. Castor fiber. Linn. 



No remains of this animal appear to have 

 been found in the county, and the only reason 

 for supposing that it ever occurred rests upon 

 the name of a village Bevercotes in north 

 Notts, which is supposed to have derived its 

 name from the existence of the beaver in that 

 neighbourhood at some former period.] 



19. Dormouse. Muscardinus avellanarius, 



Linn. 



Bell Myoxus avellanarius. 

 ' As to Nottinghamshire, Mr. J. Whitaker 

 of Rainworth Lodge near Mansfield writes 

 me that notwithstanding numerous inquiries 

 he can only hear of its existence in one locality 

 (a wood near Worksop), where there are two 

 colonies ' (G. T. Rope, Zoologist, June, 1885, 

 ix. 207). 



20. Harvest Mouse. Mus minutus, Pallas. 

 Probably now rare in the county. The 



only record I have is of several mice and a 

 nest seen by W. Rigby of the Nottingham 

 Museum, in a field near the Eastcroft, Not- 

 tingham, a good many years ago. 



2 1 . Wood Mouse, or Long-tailed Field Mouse. 



Mus sylvaticus, Linn. 



Common in the Nottingham district and 

 doubtless elsewhere. Mr. Whitaker reports 

 it from Rainworth. 



22. House Mouse. Mus musculus, Linn. 

 Here, as elsewhere, an abundant pest. 



23. Brown Rat. Mus decumanus, Pallas. 

 As the preceding. 



24. Field Vole. Microtus agrestis, Linn. 



Bell Arvuola agrestis. 



Rainworth (Whitaker), and no doubt com- 

 mon elsewhere. 



25. Water Vole. Microtus amphibius, Linn. 



Bell Arvuola amphibius. 

 Very common in all suitable situations. 

 Mr. T. M. Blagg tells me that his father fre- 

 quently saw individuals of the black variety 

 on the banks of a stream in Langford parish, 

 in the 'fifties ' and ' sixties' of the last century. 

 Remains of the water vole occur in the Pleis- 

 tocene and Recent deposits in the caves at 

 Creswell Crags. 



\ 



26. Bank Vole. Evotomys glareo/us, Schreber. 



Bell Arvicola glareolus. 



Common in the only place in the county 

 where I have placed traps for field mice, viz. 

 Colwick Park near Nottingham. No doubt 

 this and the field vole would be found to be 

 widely distributed if sought for. 



27. Hare. Lepus europ&us, Pallas. 



Bell Lepus ttmidus. 



Very common ; white, pied and sandy varie- 

 ties are occasionally seen. Bones of the hare 

 have been found in the Pleistocene and Recent 

 deposits in the Creswell caves. 



28. Rabbit. Lepus cuniculus, Linn. 



Occurs in great abundance throughout the 

 county, and its bones occur in the Recent 

 deposits in the caves at Creswell Crags. 



UNGULATA 



[Wild Boar. Sus scrofa, Linn. 



Remains of this animal were found in the 

 Recent deposits in the Creswell caves.] 



29. Red Deer. Cervus elaphus, Linn. 



The red deer was once common in Sher- 

 wood Forest, but has long since disappeared 

 in a wild state, although it exists in a semi- 

 domesticated condition in Welbeck Park, 

 where in 1892 there was a herd of 130 and 

 14 white ones; at Thoresby Park in the 

 same* year there were 24, and at Wollaton 

 Park 31. (The numbers are from Whit- 

 aker's Deer Parks and Paddocks of England, 

 1892.) 



30. Fallow Deer. Cervus aama, Linn. 

 Introduced into the following parks (num- 



bers from Whi taker's Deer Parks and Paddocks 

 of England, corrected to date) : Thoresby Park, 

 about 630; Welbeck Park, 360 and a herd 

 of 130 white ones ; Wollaton Park, 105 ; 

 Annesley Park, 200 ; Ruffbrd Park, 300 to 

 350; Rainworth Park, 26; Highfield Park, 

 IO; Chauntry House Park, 10. 



[Roe Deer. Capreolus capreolus, Linn. 



Bones have been found in the Recent de- 

 posits in the caves at Creswell Crags.] 



[Wild Cattle. Bos taurus, Linn. 



Wild white cattle existed in Wollaton Park 

 until the beginning of the last century. 

 'They were polled or hornless, with black 

 noses and black ears, and were known as the 

 " old park herd," a name denoting some an- 



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