Otter

Encounters in the Wild

by Jim Crumley

"An utter delight" - Jennifer Tetlow. In the Encounters in the Wild series, renowned nature writer Jim Crumley gets up close and personal with British wildlife - here, the otter. With his inimitable passion and vision, Jim relives memorable encounters with some of our best-loved native species, offering intimate insights into their extraordinary lives.

Genres: Natural History, Nature

64 pages, Hardcover

Published March 15, 2018

About the author

Jim Crumley is a Scottish nature writer with almost 20 books to his name, mostly on the landscape and wildlife of Scotland. He is renowned for his style - passionate, inspiring, visionary, sensitive, majestic - no work of his should be missed. He is also a columnist and presenter of radio programmes.

He has also received the accolade of '...the best nature writer now working in Great Britain...' from David Craig in the Los Angeles Times Book Review.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5) Crumley ranges around outlying Scottish islands from Shetland to Skye. It’s on Mull that he has the best views, seeing four otters in one day, though “no encounter is less than unforgettable.” He watches them playing with objects, tries to talk back to them by repeating their “Haah?” sound, and marvels that, 400 years after their kind could last have interacted with beavers, otters have quickly gotten used to sharing rivers – to him this “suggests that race memory is indestructible.”

From time to time we see a kingfisher flying down the canal. Some of our neighbors have also seen an otter swimming across from the end of the gardens, but despite our dusk vigils we haven’t been so lucky as to see one yet. I’ve only seen a wild otter once, at Ham Wall Nature Reserve in Somerset. One day, maybe there will be one right here in my backyard.

A favourite passage: “Everything I gather from familiar landscapes is more precious as a beholder, as a nature writer, because my own constant presence in that landscape is also a part of the pattern, and I reclaim the ancient right of my own species to be part of nature myself.”

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Mary Arkless · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borrowed from the library.

I first picked up this book because of the cover art. It is really pleasing to the eye. The book itself is a true wee gem. The author beautifully describes his encounters with nature and otters in different settings. I almost felt as if I was there. I’m looking up some more of Crumley’s books.

[Gareth Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nature writing of the highest order in a beautiful little book. rooted in decades of patient observation all over Scotland, Crumley conjures the otter from seashore and freshwater stream, revealing their habits, charm and endurance. A lovely escape into a real world most of us never see.

[Harriet · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really lovely little book. Would have loved it to last a little longer though. On to hares and foxes next...!