Page 87 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #02

REVIEWS BOOKS

R
H
O
ecological lessons and MEET THE AUTHOR
anatomical details with which
the text is littered.
From the frustrating Ruth
familiarity of head-lice and the
bizarre mystery of the once Pavey
Young famine-threatening Rocky
readers Mountain locust, to intestinal In 1999, Ruth bought a
Wicked Bugs worms and the foot-hollowing small, scrubby wood in
By Amy Stewart chewings of the chigoe flea, Somerset – and set to work.
Algonquin, £10.99, Age 8–12
Stewart does not hold back
Yuck – exactly the response you from the stomach-churning Why did you take this on? What sort of wildlife
need to capture the attention of anecdote. She does, however, I wanted to plant trees. encounters have you had?
an eight- to 12-year-old. Before avoid tabloid sensationalism, Trees should outlive us, so Meeting a stray llama wasn’t
they’ve decided to be afraid of and on the way she dispels to plant them now is to send exactly a wildlife encounter,
creepy-crawlies, or too cool for some of the silly myths about a good wish to the future. but memorable all the same.
wildlife, kids are enthralled as black widow dangers and I once found a lame fox in
they experiment with the deathwatch beetle omens. What have you achieved? the hollow of a tree, and I’ve
emotions of fear, disgust, Richard Jones Entomologist When I bought the wood seen a stoat chasing a rabbit
excitement and awe. it was very dense scrub, and a buzzard about to
They’ll get them all part of which had been an despatch a jay.
here in droves, but orchard. I’ve opened up
woven through the some areas to replant fruit IT IS
gruesome facts are longer-lived trees such as `
trees, and have also put in
scientific facts too. NOW AN
Author Amy Stewart oak, beech and cedar. It’s AIRIER PLACE
offers up just the now a sunnier, airier place, BUT HAS
right balance in the but still has plenty of cover COVER FOR
for wildlife.
gory details to get
Briony Morrow-Cribbs them hooked, but at What were your toughest WILDLIFE.”
the same time
learning experiences?
educated by the
That border disputes can be
very trying, and that sharing What has been your most
land with wildlife, and rewarding project?
wild plants with territorial I’m thrilled that some of
ambition such as coarse the apple trees I’ve grafted
tussocky grass, dock, old from the survivors are
man’s beard, hemlock, bearing fruit. I also love
nettle and thistle, requires the cedars and the fast
a surprising degree of care growth they’ve put on (I
and patience. understand arguments
The Aliens Among Us The Inner Life of Animals against non-native trees,
By Leslie Anthony By Peter Wohlleben How do you protect your but the wood has few of
Yale University Press £25 Bodley Head £16.99
saplings from wildlife? them), and the way the
Species that have been Author Peter Wohlleben’s most It’s hard. I was amazed at snowdrops and Narcissus
transported by humans from one recent offering is like taking a how delicious the rabbits, have settled.
region of the world to a new gentle stroll down a meandering rodents and deer found
region in which they did not woodland path with a fascinating the saplings, so enclosed What is your hope for the
previously exist, are termed alien companion at your side, full of them with spiral guards future of your wood?
or non-native species. While entertaining stories. And this and wire. When weeds I would like it to grow on in
some non-native species have forest contains an astonishing grew up inside I tried light- its semi-wild, semi-managed
minimal effects on biodiversity, array of animals and beyond. excluding membrane, but state for as long as can be
and a few may be beneficial, There’s a slime mould that root-eating voles sheltered imagined, so wildlife can
about 15 per cent have damaging recreated the Tokyo underground underneath. Now I use the continue to live there and
consequences and are termed system, a crow that fed an rigid wire cylinders you see the fruit trees can provide
invasive alien species – The Aliens abandoned kitten, beech martens round street trees, and try apples, pears and plums for
Among Us provides a fascinating that savage car engines and to keep weeding. as long as possible.
s
overview of this topic. It tackles friendships between ravens
the complexities of invasion and wolves. After finishing this
science but also offers a range you’ll have no doubt that O A WOOD OF ONE’S OWN is Ruth’s account of the joys
of perspectives on the subject. animals are sentient beings. and tribulations of restoring her woodland (Duckworth
Helen Roy Alien species expert Liz Kalaugher Science writer Overlook, £14.99): http://ducknet.co.uk
February 2018 BBC Wildlife 87