The Nature Magpie

For anyone interested in natural world and quirky facts, this hugely informative and entertaining book is essential reading and can be profitably dipped into. It is a veritable cornucopia of information ranging from animal tracks to the cost of dealing with what the author calls expensive aliens. Figures include £10 million worth of damage to trees by squirrels and £13.9 million of damage caused by deer collisions. There are items on truffles, beavers and tropical storms. One learns that the names of notorious storms like Katrina are withdrawn from the list and never used again. Particularly intriguing incident is related about the new volcanic island that appeared near Sicily in 1831. It reached 63 m high and 4800 m in circumference, and European nations raced to appropriate it. However, in December 1832, the island disappeared back into the ocean and has never re-emerged.