Local author shares his love of animals
Freelance journalist and author David Muirhead, who has lived in Vermont with his wife Marie for the past six years, will be back at The Book Cottage for the launch of his latest book, Cat among the Pigeons -Animal myths, musings and matters of fact on Saturday 29 September.
Published by Struik Nature (Penguin Random House), this book introduces readers to another batch of weird and wonderful creatures, following the author’s successful earlier volume. The Bedside Ark – A riotous assembly of unrespectable creatures, which drew a large audience to The Book Cottage for its launch two years ago.
Wildlife and conservation being among David’s favourite topics, this delightful book comprises 38 short accounts of southern Africa’s vibrant collection of wild animals. Unrespectable creatures that made it into the limelight this time range from the oddly named Killer Whale, a highly intelligent and sensitive creature that is, of course, not a whale at all but the largest member of the Dolphin family, to the grumpy Rain Frog with its aversion to water that borders on hydrophobia; and from the primordial Dragonfly that predates the Dinosaur, to South Africa’s national animal, the graceful and agile Springbok. Many of the stories are illustrated with delightful pen-and-ink drawings by Cape Town-based artist Patricia de Villiers.
Members of the Big Five feature too. including African Buffalo (‘…are second only to giraffe for their propensity to stand and stare, often in the middle of the road when you’re in a hurry to get to the camp toilets’); Rhino (“… are quite placid and even amiable, providing you don’t tiptoe up behind them and pop a paper bag*); and Lion (viewed in some quarters as a bunch of preening freeloaders, spending’their days pumping iron, when they’re not passed out on the couch, while the missus slaves away to put huge T-bone steaks on the table’).
In his preface to The Bedside Ark. David had expressed the hope that the book would provide an antidote for the barrage of horror on the evening news. In Cat among the Pigeons’ preface, he writes: ‘Sadly, the amount of bad news seems to have substantially increased in the past two years, both for us and the animals that share our planet.’
At once informative and hugely entertaining, this book illustrates David’s unique skill in combining
humour, mythology, anecdotal tales and folklore to build quirky and captivating portraits of animals. Cat among the Pigeons offers a wealth of accurate information on each of the profiled animals, as well as the threats they face from humans. It will appeal to anyone with a sense of humour, a healthy measure of curiosity and an interest in the natural world, no matter their age or level of knowledge.
At the launch of The Bedside Ark two years ago, David said that many of the creatures featured in his book are facing extinction and the sad fact is that it’s all our fault. ‘I wanted to present the animals in a different way to elicit empathy. We tend to view animals through a lens that lumps them all together, but in fact, they are as uniquely different as individual human beings and their lives are not that different to ours – they get born and they die, and in between they have to find a place to live, select a mate and procreate, find food to feed themselves and their dependents, find a way to live together in a group, keep the peace with their neighbours etc. The only difference is that they don’t whine about their challenges. frustrations and hardships, or their lot in life – they just get on with it.’
– Hedda Mittner