STUDENTS of animal behaviour are taught to resist thinking about animals as though they were human. In , trans-species psychologist Gay Bradshaw deliberately ignores this advice to get under the skin of seven vertebrate predators.
Bradshaw blends behavioural, psychological and neurobiological knowledge with insights from a wide range of sources, from experienced naturalists to indigenous peoples. The results might raise eyebrows, such as her use of to explain the behaviour of grizzly bears, or the observation that white sharks are 鈥渋ndividuals who are conventional with narrow interests鈥�. But Bradshaw鈥檚 moving description of the effects of captivity on the physiology, behaviour and psychology of orca shows the value of this approach.
Advertisement
A different mixture of the subjective and the scientific shapes Simon Cooper鈥檚 . It combines a description of otter biology and the history of their persecution and recent recovery with the artistic recreation of a year in the life of a female otter, Kuschta, who lives by Cooper鈥檚 watermill near Salisbury, UK.
As Cooper imagines himself into the lives of Kuschta, her mate Mion, and her pups Willow, Wisp and Lutran, he sometimes gives away which descriptions are imagined, which intuited and which observed. More often than not, he beguiles the reader into suspending disbelief. There are shocking moments, a surprisingly intimate description of Kuschta and Mion鈥檚 repeated couplings, and a rich portrayal of the natural world. Comparisons will be made with and , but The Otters鈥� Tale offers something new, and ultimately optimistic.
In , self-styled 鈥渨ildlife-watcher鈥� Marianne Taylor avoids subjective interpretations, concentrating on the biology, ecology and evolution of my favourite wild mammal. Nevertheless, she begins with a brief survey of hares鈥� mythology and their place in culture (1970s TV character Hartley Hare pops up repeatedly). She broadens out to cover lagomorphs around the world, including both hare species (brown and mountain) and their many subspecies, as well as rabbits and the ultra-cute pika.
Her most fascinating sections explore the ecological history of hares in the British Isles. Shooting and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) seem to have been responsible for the hare鈥檚 decline in much of the region; the current, more environmentally friendly CAP may change things for the better. But as Taylor points out, it is impossible to predict what will happen after Brexit.
鈥淓verything has changed now the horse no longer has a key role in transport, warfare, food and sport鈥�
Getting into the mind of a mussel would be difficult, and Alabama vet Abbie Gascho Landis doesn鈥檛 try. Instead, focuses on the fight to preserve a creek near Landis鈥檚 home, and reveals the vital role of molluscs as both indicators and preservers of water quality. Landis gets under the skin of not so much a single animal, but a whole ecosystem. Part scientist, part observer and part campaigner against water pollution, she puts herself and her family at the centre of the story. This is neither cloying nor vain, and her growing fascination with her subject is infectious. Immersion is science writing at its best: rich, accurate and moving.
Ulrich Raulff鈥檚 magisterial looks at the place of the horse in European history, culture and ecology. With the horse no longer playing an essential role in transport, warfare, food and sport, everything has changed: the city, the countryside, the horse, and ourselves. A bestseller in Raulff鈥檚 native Germany, Farewell to the Horse is a moving epitaph to a one-sided and often brutal animal-human relationship that shaped the modern world.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淎nimal magnetism鈥�
