Eileen Alice Soper (1905-1990). When Badgers Awake.
John Lister-Kaye, naturalist and wildlife writer, describes his experience with Soper in “Gods of the Morning”:
“As we approached the (badger) setts in the dusk she seemed to slough off her human-ness and transmogrify into something more than half wild. I couldn't understand how she sat so still. She denied cold and rain, she ignored itches – a gnat landing on her nose – she seemed to become part of the wood herself, part of the tree, the soil, the still evening air …”
Special note to my siblings: Eileen Soper was the illustrator of our beloved childhood books by Enid Blyton – look!