Wild Animals I Have Known

'The most precious book of my childhood’ – Sir David Attenborough

Meet Old Lobo, a gigantic grey wolf whose death-defying predations on sheep and cattle herds are the scourge of farmers and ranchers in the Currumpaw region of northern New Mexico. This great wolf is just one of the animals whose true stories come to life in this engrossing collection of tales by the celebrated naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton (1860-1946). Combining scientific observations of animals in their natural habitats with a romantic vision of nature and the narrative skills of a born storyteller, Seton created an extraordinary collection of tales that gave the animal story new force and believability as a literary genre. Critically and popularly acclaimed upon its initial appearance in 1898, Wild Animals I Have Known remains, more than a century later, the best-known and best-loved of his works.

Each tale focuses on an individual creature: the clever crow, Silverspot; Raggylug, a young cottontail rabbit; the author's errant hound, Bingo; Redruff, a Don Valley partridge; a wild horse known as The Mustang; Vixen, The Springfield Fox; and Wully, faithful sheep dog by day and treacherous killer by night. Seton offers affectionate but realistic portraits of each animal, stressing the commonality between his subjects and their human neighbours.

In addition to his popular wildlife stories, the author is well known for his work as an illustrator and painter. This edition faithfully reproduces the layout of the original volume, as well as all 200 of the author's distinctive illustrations. Animal lovers, environmentalists, naturalists, and any reader who appreciates a lively yarn will cherish this memorable wildlife classic.