The Last Place You'd Look for a Wallaby

Glen Chilton

Apr 2013 · Univ. of Queensland Press

About this ebook

Glen Chilton returns with another scientific quest, this time to seek out species ill-advisedly introduced into foreign environments. Chilton visits Ireland to witness how rhododendrons, an ornamental plant that escaped a private garden, now threaten to choke out the last of the great oak forests of the United Kingdom. He escapes blood-thirsty midges and a murderous Hungarian architect while visiting a colony of forgotten Scottish wallabies; finds out how termites, brought in on packing crates after WWII, contributed to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans; dives with turtles in North Queensland; and dodges both crocodiles and big guns in the eucalyptus forests of Ethiopia. Along the way, Chilton never turns down the opportunity to share a few pints with eccentric locals, often finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

About the author

Glen Chilton is an internationally recognized ornithologist and behavioral ecologist, and the world's leading authority on the extinct Labrador Duck. He is professor emeritus at St. Mary's University College-- Calgary, Canada, and adjunct professor at James Cook University. He has previously written The Curse of the Labrador Duck, which was a Stephen Leacock Medal for Humor finalist.