Hedgehogs, Killing and Kindness!

So much happening all at once!

You can hardly have failed to notice that I have a new book out - Cull of the Wild. And today - 11th June - I found out that it is being published in the USA ... today!!! Which is why there was a superb feature in the rather high profile magazine, The New Yorker! And probably why there was a short piece in the journal Nature as well! 

The New Yorker piece, however, had another surprise for me - Laura McLachlan's book, Hedgehogs, Killing and Kindness. I had completely forgotten this was coming - and am now so keen to get my hands on a copy. 

Laura grew up in New Zealand - I met her when she was studying over in the UK - where she was the student of a friend of mine. I have a print of some of her artwork on my wall beside me.

there is a fairly predictable theme running through my office decorations!

While over here she volunteered at Prickles Hedgehog Rescue in Somerset and as part of her academic work, interviews hedgehog “champions” who are working to make their gardens and communities hog friendly. 

At the time I did not full appreciate the scale of Laura's ambition - but this book, which I have only read about ... not read yet ... looks fascinating. Her return to New Zealand just as the attempt to remove the invasive nonnative species is amplified leads her into intellectual territory very similar to mine. In the New Yorker piece it is described that,

"she 'might also choose culling' when the alternative is the loss of such magnificent creatures. But she continues to be disturbed by the portrayal of those species labelled pests, which she sees as the bestial equivalent of dehumanization. “How the other is made present to us, through which stories and technologies they are mediated, matters deeply".

I hope that I can get a chance to sit down with Laura - and exchange notes on our experiences... I think she is more of an academic than I am - actually, clearly she is! But that is good - we occupy different niches - and I have to agree with what the New Yorker says about her! That, "she can’t—or won’t—give up on hedgehogs."

ps - if you have not had a chance to listen to the Start the Week broadcast, you still can here. 

And here is the review from Nature … I have had my books reviewed in New Scientist, the Economist and most news papers … but Nature! That is a joy!