Over the years I have enjoyed writing and publishing book reviews on this blog – and I am thrilled to bits to be presenting a book review of my own book – a forthcoming title from CSIRO Publishing called Living with Wildlife: a guide for our homes and backyards.

I have been a very busy bee researching and writing this book on weekends and Mondays during 2023 and 2022, so to read this wonderful review from Dr Phil Tucak, a well respected wildlife vet and communicator makes my heart sing!

This wonderful Green Tree Frog image was generously supplied by urban wildlife photographer Ethan Mann.

“Every household in Australia would benefit from reading this brilliant book to optimise how we can all live successfully alongside wildlife. Read our boo-book review of Living with Wildlife by ecologist Tanya Loos.
Wherever you live in Australia, our wildlife is often nearby – and sometimes right outside, or even inside our homes. Embracing interactions with wildlife can be wonderful, from birds flying by, to possums climbing above, and wombats, lizards or bandicoots wandering through.

Living with Wildlife: A Guide for Our Homes and Backyards provides practical information and advice on common wildlife encounters, explaining animal behaviour, potential risks to be aware of, along with actions and science-based solutions to ensure we can all co-exist positively – as our shared environment is their habitat too.

Advocating for a wildlife-friendly approach, the information in this delightful book will inspire and educate – whether you’re wanting to learn more about the species living around our homes, or to gain valuable insights into assisting wildlife that may be injured or displaced.

As the author notes, an urbanized Australia means we live where wildlife live, and sadly, in many cases our wildlife species have been impacted by habitat loss, vehicles, weather extremes, pets and pesticide use.

With Australia’s wildlife under pressure, we can all do something to help, and this book is an excellent repository of information to learn from, and keep handy on the bookshelf to keep referring to.

The first section of Living with Wildlife contains chapters dedicated to wildlife species which may inhabit your house – sometimes without you even knowing it. Bats in the roof, frogs in the toilets, to wombats burrowing underneath, or possums in the roof space. There’s also information explaining incidents such as birds hitting windows or attacking their reflections in windows or mirrors.

Next up, there’s a large section on wildlife you may encounter in the backyard, from reptiles to bandicoots, kangaroos, koalas, cassowaries, snakes and more. A final section contains practical advice and tips on helping wildlife in trouble, explaining how to help injured wildlife and where to seek further assistance, along with important reminders about keeping pet cats contained, and how to be a wildlife-friendly driver on our roads.

The layout is super easy to follow and find information quickly, and there are lots of beautiful photos of different wildlife species and also highlighting the different ways we might encounter wildlife near or in our homes.

This Living with Wildlife book is a powerful tool to enable everyone to know how to care for wildlife, and interact safely and positively with those species we may be fortunate to have living nearby. Too many of Australia’s wildlife species are under threat, so living in harmony with our wildlife is vital.”

AMAAZING! thanks Phil! The book will be available in all good bookstores November 1st, and available for pre-order here. I am also having a book launch November 10, book here!

Wildlife Warriors and other wildlife rescue hospitals organisations generously supplied images such as dear little Eamon rescued from a car accident.