MAMMALS 



Mr. Salvin of Guildford tamed, trained and 

 bred them in captivity with great success. 

 Owing to constant trapping and thoughtless 



destruction of this animal whenever possible 

 the otter is in Surrey becoming much rarer 

 than in former years. 



RODENTIA 



23. Squirrel. Sciurus leucourus, Kerr. 



Bell Sciurus vulgaris. 



Still quite common in the country and 

 occasionally found within the suburban area. 



24. Dormouse. Muscardinus avellanarius, 



Linn. 



Bell Myoxia avellanarius. 



Fairly common but rather local in its dis- 

 tribution. 



25. Brown Rat. Mus decumanus, Pallas. 



Abundant. Albinos, truly wild and not 

 merely escaped white rats, have been met 

 with ; we have also a note of black speci- 

 mens taken at Epsom and Mitcham, a variety 

 which is very well recognized and sometimes 

 has occurred in some numbers in other parts 

 of England. 



26. Black Rat. Mus rattus, Linn. 



We can find no recorded instances of this 

 species in Surrey. There is however no 

 doubt that at one time it was quite abundant. 

 It probably lingers still round the wharves of 

 the Surrey side of the Thames. 



27. House Mouse. Mus musculus, Linn. 

 Abundant. 



28. Wood Mouse or Long -tailed Field 



Mouse. Mus sylvaticus, Linn. 



Abundant and sometimes quite a nuisance 

 in gardens, where it gnaws and eats almost 

 anything. 



29. Harvest Mouse. Mus minutus, Pallas. 



Fairly common in most places. Mr. 

 Reeves had a very curiously spotted speci- 

 men from Reigate in 1880. 



30. Water Vole. Microtus amphibius. Linn. 



Bell Arv'tcola amphibius. 

 Common in all suitable localities. Melanic 

 varieties have been taken locally. 



31. Field Vole. Microtus agrestis, Linn. 



Bell Arv'tcola agrettii. 



Though subject to much, apparently capri- 

 cious, variation in its numbers the field vole 

 is as a rule common enough in all parts of 

 the county. In some seasons it has been 



known to become so numerous as to cause 

 serious damage to crops and grass. Mr. 

 Reeves of Reigate has had several white 

 specimens sent to him from that neighbour- 

 hood for preservation and pied varieties have 

 been also taken in the county. 



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



Bell Arv'tcola glareolui. 



Curiously enough when in 1887 Mr. J. E. 

 Harting published in the Zoologist his paper 

 on the distribution of this species in Great 

 Britain no record existed of its occurrence in 

 Surrey. That this was, as doubtless in the 

 case of other small mammals, due merely to 

 lack of observation seems now quite clear, for 

 shortly after this publication a lengthy note 

 on its common appearance near Westcott and 

 Godalming appeared in the same periodical 

 (Zoologist, 1888, p. 298), in which places the 

 writer had known of its existence for some 

 years prior to the date of writing. Since that 

 time the British Museum has received speci- 

 mens from various localities in the county, 

 such as Betchworth and Bletchingley (Ogilvie- 

 Grant, 1895), Elstead (Blandford, 1894) and 

 Milford (Col. Healey, 1894). In that year 

 the species seems to have been very abundant 

 in the Godalming district, and it is a well- 

 known fact that this vole, like the former 

 species, is subject to periodical variation in its 

 numbers, due probably to migration forced 

 upon it by local failure of its usual sources of 

 food. 



Mr. Larken informs us he has taken it at 

 Gatton (in lit.), and Mr. H. Sawyer states 

 that it is found in Richmond Park (in lit.). 

 It is also found at Headley and without doubt 

 is locally plentiful throughout the county. 



33. Common Hare. Lepus europaius, Pallas. 



Bell Lefus timidus. 



In places where it is well preserved the 

 hare is very abundant over I oo were bagged 

 in one day's shoot in the autumn of 1900 on 

 one farm at Nork near Epsom but in many 

 districts it is not as a rule very common. Its 

 numbers and its presence in suitable localities 

 depend almost entirely on the protection 

 afforded to it. 



34. Rabbit. Lepus cunicu/us, Linn. 

 Abundant. Melanic wild varieties are not 



uncommon. 



223 



