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I recently went in search of a creature I’ve never seen before, with the delightful name of the “Grizzled Skipper”. To me, that conjures up images of Captain Birdseye, or maybe Captain Barbarosa in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. But no,the “Grizzled Skipper” is actually a small, dark-grey-to-black butterfly. Now this butterfly is one of a family of Skippers, and it has a fairly rough-and-ready look, so I suppose that “Grizzled Skipper” could make sense in some ways, but …

I went to check on some common lizards recently, in an area of Somerford Common, Wiltshire, where I’ve seen them many times. My heart sank when I saw the notices from the Forestry Commission, advising that they they were thinning out the trees. They had done that recently in areas of Savernake Forest, changing dark woodland full of brambles and ferns into open, sunlit spaces dotted with rather lonely trees and devoid of the Fallow Deer that I’d gone there …

Fresh from my close encounter with Boar, a week later I went back in search of them. This time, I was fortunate enough not just to meet two females, but also their piglets, or “humbugs”. And these animals were sufficiently trusting to allow me, after a time, to sit quietly with them. There are people who say that we should not disturb wildlife and so should never interact with them. To a large extent, I agree with that. But where …

I went to the Forest of Dean recently. Mainly, I was looking for adders again, and pleased to find a few in a second spot. Then I went looking for boar. Now I understand that people have mixed feeling about boar, which are large, powerful animals. The impact they have on the Forest is evident – everywhere, there are signs of boar feeding, which they do by pushing their snouts into the ground and turning it over. But boar regularly …

I get it. I really do. Adders are not everyone’s cup of tea. My own wife is a little leery of snakes, and I don’t blame her. They don’t walk. They slither, in a silent, unnerving way. Snakes could do with  a good PR agency. They certainly get bad press. Think of Kaa in the Jungle Book. And who was really to blame in the Garden of Eden? They are synonymous with Evil and nasty things that bite. Adders in …

I have a very cute cat. In fact, I have two. They are adorable, cuddly grey tabbies. They are extremely placid – you pick them up, turn them upside-down and tickle their tummies. And one of them is raving psychopath. Despite being extremely well fed, Bramble goes out into the neighbourhood and delivers a steady stream of dead and dying wildlife to my feet. When I’m not chasing traumatised mice around the bedroom, I’m impressed by just how efficient a …