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New Naturalist Monograph #M01
The Badger
The Badger (New Naturalist Monograph)
158 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1948
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About the author
Ernest Neal
22 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Ernest Gordon Neal is remembered for his work with badgers, earning him the nickname "the Badger Man." He was also known as an author of The Badger, The Badger Man, On Safari in East Africa: A Background Guide, and others.
Ernest Gordon Neal was born in Hertfordshire, and educated in Taunton School, Somerset. Then he studied at the University of London.
In 1936 Ernest Neal was appointed biologist at Rendcomb College. After ten years, he became head of the science department at the Taunton School. He was a dedicated and inspiring teacher and a man with a broad range of interests in the natural sciences and in many other fields. His skillful teaching enabled many of his pupils to go on to university or other training and to develop successful careers in the sciences or in medicine. By 1960 he was named second Master and a housemaster before retiring in 1971.
His interest in badgers began in 1936 while he was at Rendcomb College and saw cubs near the school in the woods. He analyzed their eating habits and reproductive cycles and wrote about his findings. He was the first long-term scientific study of a British mammal which relied on direct observation and objective investigation and from it came his book, The Badger, published in 1948, the first monograph in the Collins "New Naturalist" series. It was a volume that has inspired tens of thousands of people to take an interest not only in badgers but in wildlife in general. Neal's interests were much wider than badgers however, and he was constantly fascinated by the complex interrelationships in both the natural world and among people.
In 1952, with Professor Humphrey Hewer, Neal began to make the very first film of wild badgers at night, a significant feat given the technology at the time. It was a work which required considerable dedication and took over three years to complete, using powerful lights to which the badgers had to become habituated. It was subsequently shown on television in 1954. During his lifetime, Neal took part in over 200 radio and television programs. Ernest Neal's interests were by no means confined to Britain. In 1962 he was invited by Stephen Curry, a former pupil and an entomologist with the Kenya Forestry Department to visit East Africa. Neal took his wife and combined it with a celebration of their silver wedding. In his own words, "Africa became an addiction."
In the late sixties, he was invited to carry out research on banded mongooses in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda and spent four months discovering a great deal about their basic biology which was previously unknown. He made a further 21 visits, many of them as a guest lecturer for Swan Hellenic and Ecosafaris. Naturally, his appetite for the way ecosystems work was fed to the full here and resulted in On Safari in East Africa - a Background Guide (1991). He also served for over 15 years on the Consultative Panel of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on Badgers and Tuberculosis from its inception in 1975. Among the veterinarians and government scientists, he felt he was the only totally independent voice representing the interests of the badger.
In retirement, he was never idle. He edited 12 volumes of the Helm Natural History series, and four of the Blandford Mammal Series. With his eldest son Keith, he wrote a textbook, Biology Today (1975). He published four more books on badgers, including The Natural History of Badgers (1986). His autobiography, The Badger Man: Memoir of a Biologist, appeared in 1994. It elegantly covers his life and his wide range of scientific and other interests in detail, including his wife and the family’s years at Rendcomb, and his teaching and scientific interests when he moved to Taunton Schoo
Ernest Gordon Neal is remembered for his work with badgers, earning him the nickname "the Badger Man." He was also known as an author of The Badger, The Badger Man, On Safari in East Africa: A Background Guide, and others.
Ernest Gordon Neal was born in Hertfordshire, and educated in Taunton School, Somerset. Then he studied at the University of London.
In 1936 Ernest Neal was appointed biologist at Rendcomb College. After ten years, he became head of the science department at the Taunton School. He was a dedicated and inspiring teacher and a man with a broad range of interests in the natural sciences and in many other fields. His skillful teaching enabled many of his pupils to go on to university or other training and to develop successful careers in the sciences or in medicine. By 1960 he was named second Master and a housemaster before retiring in 1971.
His interest in badgers began in 1936 while he was at Rendcomb College and saw cubs near the school in the woods. He analyzed their eating habits and reproductive cycles and wrote about his findings. He was the first long-term scientific study of a British mammal which relied on direct observation and objective investigation and from it came his book, The Badger, published in 1948, the first monograph in the Collins "New Naturalist" series. It was a volume that has inspired tens of thousands of people to take an interest not only in badgers but in wildlife in general. Neal's interests were much wider than badgers however, and he was constantly fascinated by the complex interrelationships in both the natural world and among people.
In 1952, with Professor Humphrey Hewer, Neal began to make the very first film of wild badgers at night, a significant feat given the technology at the time. It was a work which required considerable dedication and took over three years to complete, using powerful lights to which the badgers had to become habituated. It was subsequently shown on television in 1954. During his lifetime, Neal took part in over 200 radio and television programs. Ernest Neal's interests were by no means confined to Britain. In 1962 he was invited by Stephen Curry, a former pupil and an entomologist with the Kenya Forestry Department to visit East Africa. Neal took his wife and combined it with a celebration of their silver wedding. In his own words, "Africa became an addiction."
In the late sixties, he was invited to carry out research on banded mongooses in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda and spent four months discovering a great deal about their basic biology which was previously unknown. He made a further 21 visits, many of them as a guest lecturer for Swan Hellenic and Ecosafaris. Naturally, his appetite for the way ecosystems work was fed to the full here and resulted in On Safari in East Africa - a Background Guide (1991). He also served for over 15 years on the Consultative Panel of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on Badgers and Tuberculosis from its inception in 1975. Among the veterinarians and government scientists, he felt he was the only totally independent voice representing the interests of the badger.
In retirement, he was never idle. He edited 12 volumes of the Helm Natural History series, and four of the Blandford Mammal Series. With his eldest son Keith, he wrote a textbook, Biology Today (1975). He published four more books on badgers, including The Natural History of Badgers (1986). His autobiography, The Badger Man: Memoir of a Biologist, appeared in 1994. It elegantly covers his life and his wide range of scientific and other interests in detail, including his wife and the family’s years at Rendcomb, and his teaching and scientific interests when he moved to Taunton Schoo
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