Here and There. Wildlife adventures at home and abroad - Adrian Middleton

‘Here and There’ takes a light-hearted look at the author’s favourite wildlife moments at home and abroad, including some of the unexpected encounters he has had along the way.

It starts with an appraisal of the relationships between man and animals leading to a look at wildlife around the home, garden and the surrounding countryside. Adventures abroad track big cats such as lions, tigers, jaguars and pumas, colourful birds like bower birds and hummingbirds, snakes whether or not poisonous and lizards, also butterflies, moths and other insects. A review about natural colour variations is included and relates to albino badgers through to black adders and others.

There is a special look at mammals like ourselves and more primitive ones including monotremes (such as echidnas) and marsupials (such as kangaroos) and the differences between warm and cold-blooded animals. A study about the effects of heathland fires on wildlife makes for special observations too.

Joint visits onto Dorset lowland heaths especially with young people looking for snakes and lizards and other creatures provides the most enduring memory of all, and is the overall motive for writing this book, recognising that the future of our wildlife will eventually rest with them.