Chantal Lyons
@chantallyons.bsky.social
Sci Comms writer & naturalist. Debut non-fic GROUNDBREAKERS on the return of Britain’s wild boar out w/ Bloomsbury 1 Feb 2024!
Rep’d by James Macdonald Lockhart.
Rep’d by James Macdonald Lockhart.
Currently obsessed with this new paper which infers that North America is missing a large bioturbating herbivore which basically means that feral hogs are ground sloths in pig’s clothing
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
November 6, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Currently obsessed with this new paper which infers that North America is missing a large bioturbating herbivore which basically means that feral hogs are ground sloths in pig’s clothing
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
Frustrating when you come across a glaring error in a well-reviewed book that makes you wonder if other “facts” therein are wrong too. Thylacine ancestors in Australia date back at least 30 mya? Maybe getting confused w/ dingo. Vital for authors to check & re-check text before publication…
October 3, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Frustrating when you come across a glaring error in a well-reviewed book that makes you wonder if other “facts” therein are wrong too. Thylacine ancestors in Australia date back at least 30 mya? Maybe getting confused w/ dingo. Vital for authors to check & re-check text before publication…
I did not want to see the news tonight that Jane Goodall has died.
But what a life. What a human. What an impact she had on our understanding of our fellow Earthlings and their right to life. We are so much poorer for having lost her.
But what a life. What a human. What an impact she had on our understanding of our fellow Earthlings and their right to life. We are so much poorer for having lost her.
October 1, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I did not want to see the news tonight that Jane Goodall has died.
But what a life. What a human. What an impact she had on our understanding of our fellow Earthlings and their right to life. We are so much poorer for having lost her.
But what a life. What a human. What an impact she had on our understanding of our fellow Earthlings and their right to life. We are so much poorer for having lost her.
When your fiancé is reading a biography of Francis Crick, who was married to your great aunt Odile, and points out this bit and says “Look, your accident gene runs in the family”
September 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
When your fiancé is reading a biography of Francis Crick, who was married to your great aunt Odile, and points out this bit and says “Look, your accident gene runs in the family”
I was utterly charmed by @bsbicountries.bsky.social’s quest to find a medley of Britain’s endemic species. Also, YES to Pokémon references in nature writing
September 2, 2025 at 7:32 AM
I was utterly charmed by @bsbicountries.bsky.social’s quest to find a medley of Britain’s endemic species. Also, YES to Pokémon references in nature writing
Two brilliant new reads on coexistence with creatures great & small - @adamweymouth.bsky.social on wolves, & @julianhoffman.bsky.social on fellow humans, bears, wrens, swallows & beyond in Greece ❤️
August 15, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Two brilliant new reads on coexistence with creatures great & small - @adamweymouth.bsky.social on wolves, & @julianhoffman.bsky.social on fellow humans, bears, wrens, swallows & beyond in Greece ❤️
I’ve always heard that damsons are generally too sour to eat as they are - but I’ve found a tree near me whose fruit is green-fleshed yet divine (like miniature Victoria plums). Are my tastebuds off or have I found a Magical Damson Tree?
August 10, 2025 at 12:01 PM
I’ve always heard that damsons are generally too sour to eat as they are - but I’ve found a tree near me whose fruit is green-fleshed yet divine (like miniature Victoria plums). Are my tastebuds off or have I found a Magical Damson Tree?
Sorry but this photo of my parents’ rescue dog from Sri Lanka being walked in the rain kills me
August 2, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Sorry but this photo of my parents’ rescue dog from Sri Lanka being walked in the rain kills me
Loved @argatyredkites.bsky.social’s new book on his ultimately triumphant battle to save #beavers from being shot & bring them to his land in Scotland. 1/2
July 12, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Loved @argatyredkites.bsky.social’s new book on his ultimately triumphant battle to save #beavers from being shot & bring them to his land in Scotland. 1/2
Raced through this by @drjuliashaw.bsky.social - had no idea of the issue of illegal gold miners in South Africa! Compelling storytelling throughout.
July 6, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Raced through this by @drjuliashaw.bsky.social - had no idea of the issue of illegal gold miners in South Africa! Compelling storytelling throughout.
… as I said in my book GROUNDBREAKERS, we need ‘schools of wilding’ to help the UK reach a wilder future full of free-roaming livestock, wild boar, bison, and elk, & perhaps even carnivores bigger than foxes… 6/6
May 14, 2025 at 11:56 AM
… as I said in my book GROUNDBREAKERS, we need ‘schools of wilding’ to help the UK reach a wilder future full of free-roaming livestock, wild boar, bison, and elk, & perhaps even carnivores bigger than foxes… 6/6
People in Slovenia accept that they share their lands with bears & that they have responsibilities as a result. Quite the contrast with the ‘I’ll do whatever I want’ mindset of many in the UK. We’re missing our bears but… 5/6
May 14, 2025 at 11:56 AM
People in Slovenia accept that they share their lands with bears & that they have responsibilities as a result. Quite the contrast with the ‘I’ll do whatever I want’ mindset of many in the UK. We’re missing our bears but… 5/6
The Dina Large Carnivore Centre (near the bear watching) is also well worth a visit. It has one of the most creative & engaging exhibitions I’ve ever experienced – about the ecology of bears, wolves & lynx, & how to behave in a bear forest 3/6
May 14, 2025 at 11:55 AM
The Dina Large Carnivore Centre (near the bear watching) is also well worth a visit. It has one of the most creative & engaging exhibitions I’ve ever experienced – about the ecology of bears, wolves & lynx, & how to behave in a bear forest 3/6
Firstly, Slovenia is amazing & if you go you MUST book a bear watching trip with BEARoundme, run by the estimable Jernej Zgur: bearwatchingslovenia.si 2/6
May 14, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Firstly, Slovenia is amazing & if you go you MUST book a bear watching trip with BEARoundme, run by the estimable Jernej Zgur: bearwatchingslovenia.si 2/6
Feeling invigorated & inspired by my recent trip to Slovenia to explore how people there rub along pretty darn well with a population of about 900 brown bears 1/6
May 14, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Feeling invigorated & inspired by my recent trip to Slovenia to explore how people there rub along pretty darn well with a population of about 900 brown bears 1/6
I love stumbling on unexpected books in charity shops. This is my latest - a well written and compelling account from the 1970s of building an oxhide boat based on a monk’s writings and crossing the Atlantic in it… (w/ a few charming wildlife encounters along the way)
May 12, 2025 at 7:19 PM
I love stumbling on unexpected books in charity shops. This is my latest - a well written and compelling account from the 1970s of building an oxhide boat based on a monk’s writings and crossing the Atlantic in it… (w/ a few charming wildlife encounters along the way)
Is this brown bear scat? I think it is, but would appreciate peer review. Seen near Caldes, Trentino.
(It was “moist fresh” but I couldn’t detect any warmth when I hovered my hand an inch over it…)
(It was “moist fresh” but I couldn’t detect any warmth when I hovered my hand an inch over it…)
May 5, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Is this brown bear scat? I think it is, but would appreciate peer review. Seen near Caldes, Trentino.
(It was “moist fresh” but I couldn’t detect any warmth when I hovered my hand an inch over it…)
(It was “moist fresh” but I couldn’t detect any warmth when I hovered my hand an inch over it…)
The Orso del Pradel artwork was awe-inspiring in person.
I hiked with the hope of seeing a bear and also the hope of not seeing one.
I hiked with the hope of seeing a bear and also the hope of not seeing one.
May 4, 2025 at 5:18 PM
The Orso del Pradel artwork was awe-inspiring in person.
I hiked with the hope of seeing a bear and also the hope of not seeing one.
I hiked with the hope of seeing a bear and also the hope of not seeing one.
My little bendy rowan, gifted at the @righttoroam.bsky.social book launch for Wild Service last year, is growing strong! Nurturing it through this pre-drought…
@amyjanebeer.bsky.social @nicolawriting.bsky.social ❤️
@amyjanebeer.bsky.social @nicolawriting.bsky.social ❤️
May 1, 2025 at 12:49 PM
My little bendy rowan, gifted at the @righttoroam.bsky.social book launch for Wild Service last year, is growing strong! Nurturing it through this pre-drought…
@amyjanebeer.bsky.social @nicolawriting.bsky.social ❤️
@amyjanebeer.bsky.social @nicolawriting.bsky.social ❤️
Learned from ‘A Tale of Trees’ that Leigh Wood in Bristol was almost lost & why ash dieback is even sadder than I knew 2/2
April 25, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Learned from ‘A Tale of Trees’ that Leigh Wood in Bristol was almost lost & why ash dieback is even sadder than I knew 2/2
Two recent reads I thought were fantastic - ‘Stronghold’ is a compelling account of preserving salmon in the Pacific; ‘A Tale of Trees’ by @derekniemann.bsky.social lays bare the damage done to our woodlands in the 20th century & deepened my understanding of woodland ecology 1/2
April 25, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Two recent reads I thought were fantastic - ‘Stronghold’ is a compelling account of preserving salmon in the Pacific; ‘A Tale of Trees’ by @derekniemann.bsky.social lays bare the damage done to our woodlands in the 20th century & deepened my understanding of woodland ecology 1/2
I briefly visited the science museum in the little town of Estremoz in Portugal. Couldn’t find the stairs up to see their dino skeleton but they have peacocks on arrival so 10/10
April 15, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I briefly visited the science museum in the little town of Estremoz in Portugal. Couldn’t find the stairs up to see their dino skeleton but they have peacocks on arrival so 10/10
Book 1 subject trying to distract me from Book 2 subject
April 15, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Book 1 subject trying to distract me from Book 2 subject
If you visit Portugal do not miss the chance to take the train from Porto to Pocinho along the Douro River
April 11, 2025 at 8:06 AM
If you visit Portugal do not miss the chance to take the train from Porto to Pocinho along the Douro River
Marry a man who can build his own bat boxes
(That’s precisely what I’ll be doing next summer ❤️)
(That’s precisely what I’ll be doing next summer ❤️)
March 29, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Marry a man who can build his own bat boxes
(That’s precisely what I’ll be doing next summer ❤️)
(That’s precisely what I’ll be doing next summer ❤️)