The Last Place You'd Look for a Wallaby: My Obsessive Quest to Seek Out Alien Species

Glen Chilton, author of the rollicking The Curse of the Labrador Duck, returns with yet another 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 the Second World War, contributed to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans; dives with endangered sea turtles in North Queensland; and dodges crocodiles and machine guns in the eucalyptus forests of Ethiopia. And along the way, he never turns down the opportunity to share a few drinks with eccentric locals. This wickedly funny account tells the real story about the impact of invading species. Praise for The Last Place You'd Look for a Wallaby 'If wit and humour help raise awareness of the delicate balance that exists between an environment and its life forms, Chilton's revelations will trump all those naysayers who believe environmentalists should just go away and silently hug a tree.' Winnipeg Free Press Praise for The Curse of the Labrador Duck 'Fascinating. Glen Chilton - currently my favourite hard-drinking ornithologist - is a wonderful guide, with prose that calls to mind James Herriot and Bill Bruson.' AJ Jacobs, author of The Know-It-All