David Alderton
From Royal Menageries to Courtly Canine Companions
Royalty have maintained exotic collections almost from the dawn of time. In David Alderton’s article this month, he shares the history of royal menageries in Europe from Henry III’s animals ...
Capern’s Collectibles (Bird Seed/Wedgewood Pottery)
Birdkeepers today take clean bird seed and an expanding range of carefully formulated bird foods for granted, but this was not always the case. The trend towards improved nutrition started ...
Stars of the Silver Screen
These animal actors attracted huge global audiences of many millions, and made fortunes for their movie studios, but they have since become largely forgotten today, except amongst film buffs. However, ...
Hotel Cats
Something of a tradition of having a resident cat has developed in various hotels around the world. Although initially, these may have helped with rodent control, the presence of a ...
A Different Type of Training
It is no coincidence that dogs have become our closest animal companions. From the earliest days of their domestication, they have adapted to working alongside us in a wide variety ...
A Country of Dogs
The British Isles are home to some of the world's most popular breeds, and there are certainly enough variations to appeal to everyone today, from the tall, rangy Irish wolfhound ...
Cats as Literary Muses
A number of famous authors have expressed a deep love for cats and have been inspired to write about the cats that they themselves kept. Samuel Longhorn Clemens (1835-1910), better ...