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British history, travel, and culture

History

A Firkin of Fauna

British Heritage · · 1 min read

from fields, forests and farms

DANA HUNTLEY
1. This pompous peacock struts his stuff standing sentinel on the lawns of Castle Howard, Yorkshire.


‘Animals are such agreeable friends–they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms’

—George Eliot

BRITIANONVIEW/LAURENT GESLIN/NATUREPL.COM
2. The cute-as-a-button, prickly-as-a-cactus hedgehog is one of many species whose habitat shrunk considerably with the disappearing hedgerows of the 20th century.
PETER CAIRNS/SCOTTISH VIEWPOINT
3. It takes sharp eyes and good fortune to spot a wild boar in the woodlands of the New Forest.
4. An unfazed tabby rises from her nap in the back garden of Romsey Abbey, Hampshire.
DANA HUNTLEY
5. Quiet neighbors, these sleepy cattle wander around the field next to Jane Austen’s house in Chawton.
BRITIANONVIEW/ ROZ GORDON
6. The keen-eyed, sharp-witted border collie truly is a shepherd’s best friend in the border hill country.