The Beauty in the Beast

Book excerpt: A delightful portrait of some of the UK's best-loved wild animals and birds and the colourful enthusiasts who champion their causes. Meet Paul, the amazing beaver-man up who lives in Perthshire, the owl-man from Somerset, and the water vole-woman from Shropshire. They are all amazing characters who manage to carry a deep knowledge of their chosen species within a distinctly quirky shell. Other animals making an appearance include otters , house sparrows, robins , owls, bats, badgers, dolphins, toads, dragonflies, moths, foxes and adders. Hugh Warwick, animal enthusiast and hedgehog fanatic, writes a series of affectionate and quirky homages to the animals of the British Isles, composed of fieldwork and interviews with the people who love and conserve them.