A Lifetime of Mammals

Book excerpt: A comprehensive description of the UK’s mammal population. Fully illustrated from the author’s extensive photographic collection. This book is the result of over fifty years of studying and photographing the mammals of the UK in their natural environment. It consists of full descriptions of our native mammals and the landscapes in which they live. It concentrates on the larger mammals such as the badger and foxes, but also all the smaller mammals such as stoats, weasels and polecats, and rodents including squirrels, voles and various mouse species. Finally it also describes some introduced animals both long established, such as the rabbit and brown hare, as well as briefer descriptions of the more recently introduced ones such as the mink. The book deals with how some of the mammals, such as the badger, have had their profiles raised through the work of the author together with Dr Ernest Neal. It was the combined work of various badger experts, including Derek Warren and Dr. Neal, and several MPs that resulted in the two badger bills being presented to parliament. The book contains a chapter by Adrian Middleton, a retired veterinary surgeon, on colour variations in mammals where these variations are described in detail. All of these descriptions within the book are accompanied by photographs of the various mammals taken by the author.