Beak, Tooth and Claw, Mary Colwell
Beak, Tooth and Claw, Mary Colwell
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Beak, Tooth and Claw

Author: Mary Colwell

Narrator: Mary Colwell

Unabridged: 9 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/29/2021

Synopsis

‘A must read for all wildlife lovers’ Dominic Dyer Foxes, buzzards, crows, badgers, weasels, seals, kites – Britain and Ireland’s predators are impressive and diverse and they capture our collective imagination. But many consider them to our competition, even our enemies. The problem is that predators eat what we farm or use for sport. From foxes and ravens attacking new-born lambs to weasels eating game-bird chicks, predators compete with us, putting them directly into the firing line. Farming, fishing, sport and leisure industries want to see numbers of predators reduced, and conservation organisations also worry that predators are threatening some endangered species. Other people, though, will go to great lengths to protect them from any harm. This clashing of worlds can be intense. So, what do we do? One of the greatest challenges facing conservation today is how, when and where to control predators. It is a highly charged debate. Mary Colwell travels across the UK and Ireland to encounter the predators face to face. She watches their lives in the wild and discovers how they fit into the landscape. She talks to the scientists studying them and the wildlife lovers who want to protect them. She also meets the people who want to control them to protect their livelihoods or sporting interests. In this even-handed exploration of the issues, Mary provides a thoughtful and reasoned analysis of the debates surrounding our bittersweet relationship with predators.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Hannah on November 08, 2022

I did lots of underlining while reading this book; some joyous, some woeful, some inspiring - but every line I marked meant I was moved enough to put pen to paper. I feel like, as someone who already has a deep appreciation for British wildlife and takes part in volunteer rescue work, this book may......more

Goodreads review by Roger on May 04, 2021

A great subject for study (how does an industrial nation live with its predator animals), excellently researched and courageously answered. In a world where nuance has given way to 'my black' and 'your white', it is refreshing to read someone who admits there are no easy answers. Well worth a read.......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on March 23, 2024

It occurred to me while reading this, that there are some parallels for the concept of predator reintroduction between the UK and Singapore. They have the elusive wildcat and the larger sized Eurasian lynx, while we have the almost locally extinct leopard cat and the probably once extant clouded leo......more

Goodreads review by kxtera on September 26, 2022

3.75 stars 'it is yet another example of our blaming wildlife for problems of our own making' i thought this did a good job of looking at various views of predators using anecdotal evidence whilst still reaching conclusions based on scientific evidence and peer-reviewed studies (where available) the cr......more

Goodreads review by Jeff on May 11, 2022

The intro to Mary Colwell’s Beak, Tooth and Claw: Living with Predators in Britain holds harrowing revelation, Great Tits, those burly favourites of the bird table, have been known to use their acorn smashing beaks to splinter the skulls of hibernating bats and eat the brains, leading one expert......more

Quotes

‘Provocative, thought provoking and life affirming. Mary Colwell enters a world steeped in blood, much of it on our hands. A masterpiece of Conservation writing’ Sir Tim Smit of the Eden Project ‘This fascinating – and balanced – book wrestles with our confused, paradoxical relationship with predators … and argues that our relationship with them needs to be evaluated within the context of its history’ ‘There are few more fraught topics than the status of Britain’s larger predators … It takes immense courage to be a voice of calm … and once again Mary Colwell has stepped up to the mark. There is much to learn from this book’ ‘Colwell seeks to steer those who legally cull predators towards a more thoughtful stance, while urging others to understand why predators have to be managed’ magazine ‘This book made me question what I thought that I knew about species ranging from seals to wolves’ BTO magazine ‘An engaging, balanced and wise book on a contested subject … A lesson both in open-mindedness and in sweet reason’ Jeremy Mynott, author of Birdscapes ‘A brave book … that seeks out a fair-minded variety of opinions … thoroughly researched, indexed and annotated … this honest scrutiny of our relationship with middle-sized British predators is timely, informative and necessary’ Juliet Blaxford

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