Mike Tomkies after living in a derelict croft on an island off the Scottish coast, settled in the remote lochside cottage he called Wildernesse. There he wrote nine books about the wildlife in the Western Highlands. Mike Tomkies discovered his passion for wildlife as a boy, but was forced by circumstances to abandon it. Before finally settling in Scotland he served with the Coldstream Guards in the Middle east and then became a successful Fleet Street journalist, later freelancing in Paris, Madrid and Rome, was a Hollywood columnist until he emigrated to the Canadians wilds, where he wrote "Alone in the Wilderness." In 1988 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. "A Last Wild Place" is the most famous of his books written about Wildernesse and his dog Mooblis's adventures. It has been a best seller ever since it was first published in 1984. The Duke of Edinburgh wrote in the "Good Book Guide: The North west of Scotland is indeed a wild place, but to the observant eye of the author it is full of wonderful life. This book does more than describe a piece of wild country and its population of wild animals: it gives a vivid picture of someone wholly absorbed by his subject."

I must agree with the Duke this book is full of wonderful life. Mike Tomkies is a accomplished writer and his descriptions of the inhabitants of Wilderness is not only brilliant but moving. The reader cannot help but admire Mr. Tomkies as a writer but as a human being. The courage and ability to endure in spite of adversity makes this book a story of courage also. I think instead of me telling you any more I would just like to share some of my favorite passages from this wonderful book.

One of my favorite characters in the book is "Pete" the chaffinch. The following excerpt is Pete's story.

"Perhaps the most poignant little adventure on the bird table, for it had overtones of courage, occurred one early April morning. I was at my desk, colours flashing outside the window, when there was a swish, a loud snap and I turned to see one of the cock chaffinches fluttering to the ground - and the female sparrowhawk wheeling round in a circle with beak agape as if to make another dive at the chaffinch. I threw open the window to see more and she veered off into the west wood. I rushed out but the chaffinch, flopping on the ground as if in shock, flew into the dark interior of a bush and disappeared. I hoped it had only been dealt a glancing blow.

"Next day the caffinch was indeed back but its left leg was broken and dangled loosely by a sinew from the main joint. It had probably spent the whole day and night in the bush and was now hungry. It stood on the bread with one good foot and pulled off crumbs, holding balance by spreading its wings out on the table. I now recognized the bird as the second dominant cock of that year, one I had called Pete because he would arrive raising and dropping his head feathers, twirling on his feet like a concert singer acknowledging applause and calling 'Pete, Pete' slightly different from the usual 'Pink, Pink' of the other cocks.

I didn't see him for the next two days and wondered it he had perished, but after heavy snow blizzards on April 8, I saw him on the table again. All the cocky aggression which had allowed him to hold second position among the seven cocks that year had gone, and all the others now bullied him. Once the top cock, dozing on a twig in a sunny moment, seemed to wake for the sole purpose of chasing him away. But Pete learned to be cunning, to watch from a distance and to sneak in amid the whirling snow, I thought how flimsy was our belief in human 'superiority' over such animal life. That night the radio announced the death of some hikers during the blizzards in the Cairngorms; men who were clothed and equipped were dying. How long would man last in conditions with a broken leg? Yet the tiny chaffinch was making it.....later I saw a hen and two chicks on the table, then Pete arrived. At first I thought they were the dominant cock's family again but as the two fledglings fluttered their wings and weaved to and from chirruping for food, Peter took a few pecks, looked at the nearest chick, a big cock, then popped some food into his beak.

This was his family. To my further surprise, when two of the other chaffinch cocks landed the big chick went straight at them, chasing them away then returned to act like a baby again, soliciting more food from his one-legged father.... A few days later I noticed he no longer fed his own young and one morning he flew after and caught a crane fly. A chick weaved to and fro and opened its beak hopefully. Pete seemed about to pop it into the chick's mouth but then sat back on his tail, clipped away with his mandibles as first one wing fell off, and then the other, then he swallowed it, looking very pleased with himself."

"A Last Wild Place" is full of many splendid characters like Pete and Moolbi, Mike's constant canine companion, along with exciting stories of the struggle of man and animal to survive. It is a must read for anyone interested in the Highlands of Scotland and nature and a book I will long treasure and reread. There is an underlying message in this marvelous book.

The writer reminds us "In nature's teeming world the animals and birds are working hard to fulfil their destinies. The feeling came strongly upon me that we, who evolved from original creation to become the dominate species, with unique gifts of intelligence, foresight and ability to loves spiritually beyond ourselves, have an inherent and inescapable duty to act as responsible custodians of the whole inspiring natural world. We are the late-comers, it can only be ours on trust.

If we let it down then we also let down its Creator, and even if we don't believe in God, conservation of the natural world and its ability to inspire our finer thoughts - for only thought can change the world - is without doubt whatever a necessary ethnic of our own survival. The kingdoms of the wild evolved in creation not for mere man to plunder, to satisfy greed under the guise of progress, and finally to destroy but both to enjoy and enhance. If we fail to learn from the last wild places, we may yet create a hell on earth before we too pass along the road to extinction, the fate of all dominant species before us. Spiritual unease has long been manifest. The lessons will not wait for ever to be learned."

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