The fox is our apex predator, our most beautiful and clever killer. We have witnessed its wild touch, watched it slink by bins at night and been chilled by its high-pitched scream. And yet we long to stroke the tumbling cubs outside their tunnel homes and watch the vixen stalk the cornfield.
There is something about foxes. They captivate us like no other species.
Exploring a long and sometimes complicated relationship, The Wild Life of the Fox captures our love – and sometimes loathing – of this magnificent creature in vivid detail and lyrical prose.
This unusual history draws on original letters, newspaper cuttings and a remarkable complete set of meeting minutes to set out the story of the union, and in doing so lifts the lid of a host of colourful characters who defined the place of Fylde as well as the fast paced time in which they lived.
Over the past twenty-five years Peter Shakeshaft, and his wife Maureen, have interviewed many past and present Freckleton Residents, and recorded their recollections of village life from the early nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. The interviews, combined with local newspaper reports and private correspondence, have enable a hitherto unseen picture of Freckleton to emerge from otherwise rapidly fading shadows.
It has been 30 years since Noel Fitzpatrick graduated as a veterinary surgeon, and that 22-year-old from Ballyfin, Ireland, is now one of the leading veterinary surgeons in the world. The journey to that point has seen Noel treat thousands of animals - many of whom were thought to be beyond help - animals that have changed his life, and the lives of those around them, for the better.
If the No.1 Sunday Times bestseller Listening to the Animals was about Noel's path to becoming The Supervet, then How Animals Saved My Life is about what it's like to actually be The Supervet. Noel shares the moving and often funny stories of the animals he's treated and the unique 'animal people' he has met along the way. He reflects on the valuable lessons of Integrity, Care, Love and Hope that they have taught him - lessons that have sustained him through the unbelievable highs and crushing lows of a profession where lives are quite literally at stake.