A Last Wild Place - Softcover

Tomkies, Mike

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1849953139 ISBN 13: 9781849953139

Publisher: Whittles Publishing, 2018

Synopsis

Mike Tomkies gives a remarkable picture of the whole cycle of nature around him, in a harsh and testing environment of unrivalled beauty. Vivid colours and sounds fill these pages – exotic wild orchids, the roar of rutting stags, a pair of dragonflies mating, the flight of the redwing, the territorial movements of foxes, otters and badgers, an oak tree being torn apart by hurricane-force gales. Nothing seems to escape his penetrating eye, to which the selection of his photographs in this book – some revealing little-known aspects of animal behaviour – immediately testifies.

Yet Mike’s extraordinary insights into the wildlife that shared his otherwise empty territory of 300 square miles are not gained without perseverance in the face of perilous hazards. Every pound of supplies (including heavy gas canisters) has to be manhandled in and out of his boat, which once sank beneath him in a storm. Thousands of miles of rock faces and hillside must be trekked each year in summer and winter, the tussock grass concealing sodden peat holes that will break an ankle. Hours on end, day and night, are spent in cramped hides on windy, precipitous ledges.

A Last Wild Place is much more than the chronicle of a man who left city life in order to study the wilderness. It is a celebration of nature at its most rugged and spectacular in all Britain. Like the enormous ageing salmon he threw back because he felt he had no right to claim its life, Mike Tomkies reveals through his quest our urgent need to become retuned to natural rhythms if mankind is to regain a measure of health and sanity in a world bent on self-destruction.

About this title

About the Author

Mike Tomkies was an acclaimed naturalist, writer and film-maker and lived for 35 years in remote and wild places in the Scottish Highlands, Canada and Spain. In 1988 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. His other books include Moobli, Alone in the Wilderness, Between Earth and Paradise, Out of the Wild, Golden Eagle Years, On Wing and Wild Water, My Wicked First Life, vol. I of his autobiography, Backwoods Mates to Hollywood's Greats, vol. II of his autobiography, Wildcat Haven, Rare, Wild and Free and Running Wild.

Review

`His phenomenal knowledge of wildlife is not limited to mammals and birds but includes trees, wild plants and insects, particularly butterflies. His chapters on deer in winter are particularly poignant... He is an extraordinary naturalist and his tales are made all the more interesting by the presence of his constant companion, his experienced German shepherd dog Moobli'. Wildlife Detective, The blog of Alan Stewart -------------------- `...presents a truly remarkable picture of the whole cycle of nature around him... ...Impressively informed and informative, "A Last Wild Place" is a simply fascinating and engaging read from cover to cover and an enduring testimonial to a life time of observation and study of the natural world. Midwest Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Whittles Publishing
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1849953139
• ISBN 13: 9781849953139
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 248