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Professor David Bellamy:
"...beautifully written ...giving us a rich understanding of the rules of nature."

What is the law of the wild? That winter follows autumn and summer spring. That fox feeds on rabbit, and rabbit on young grass? That a seed germinates, takes root and grows into a tree which flowers and bears fruit and which in its turn drops its seed? Season follows season, ... More

Professor David Bellamy:
"...beautifully written ...giving us a rich understanding of the rules of nature."

What is the law of the wild? That winter follows autumn and summer spring. That fox feeds on rabbit, and rabbit on young grass? That a seed germinates, takes root and grows into a tree which flowers and bears fruit and which in its turn drops its seed? Season follows season, and animals mate, bear young and die. In the intricate cycle of the wild there is no place for either sentiment nor deviation - for those who fail or falter, death is the sure reward, only the fit survive.

In this book we watch the life of a part of the country, centred on a great horse chestnut, and the creatures that use it for shelter and home. We follow the life of a dog fox during the last part of his life, seeing how the gap his death leaves in the natural scheme of things, by one of the cubs that the vixen bears him. We watch the inter-action of the animals on one another and on the place in which they live and the results of the demands made by the environment on creatures that form part of it. Outside, the brooding presence of man touches and transforms, and breaks the accepted patterns seemingly as wilfully and capriciously as the gods of Ancient Egypt used to play and interfere with the life of men.

The description of English countryside and the behaviour of the animals who inhabit it, are the result of the careful observation and close attention by the author Hazel Peel, who has already written successfully for children about animals and the countryside. These books include Pilot the Hunter and Untamed.

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