Poison arrow

Britain is a country mercifully bereft of threatening fauna–or so you might believe. John Lewis-Stempel provides a miscellany of our otherwise benign land’s more fearsome critters

Unfairly maligned as a sneaky troublemaker, the quicksilver ferret is a characterful, curious and highly intelligent creature–with fascinating regal and cultural trappings to boot, writes Octavia Pollock

A round-up of the strangest science stories from around the world.

t’s a hot november morning in the Western Ghats of southern India, and I’m sitting on a wooden verandah surrounded by dense forest. Suddenly, the shrill ring of a mobile phone breaks the silence. Ajay

From Shakespeare to treasured stalking trophies and scientific study, antlers in all their aspects never fail to impress and inspire, says Charles Harris

Nature’s spiky deterrents–thorns, spines and prickles–may be quick to catch us out, but they can also prove to be a useful ally, discovers Laura Parker