A personage who takes delight in small things he finds on the wayside – I loved this eclectic selection of things spotted, gathered up, carefully placed and then returned to.  

Even in the open countryside he retained his passion for play-things, and would carry with him for miles some object that had caught his fancy, a fallen rhododendron blossom, an empty twelve-bore cartridge case, a fir-cone, or, on one occasion, a woman’s comb with an artificial brilliant set in the bar; this he discovered at the side of the drive as we set off one morning, and carried it for three hours, laying it down on the bank when he took to water and returning for it as soon as he emerged.  

And what if I told you that this nuannaarpoqian behaviour belongs to an animal, one I believe to be king of nuannaarpoqians among wild creatures due to an astounding degree of playfulness?   An otter no less.   See our celebration of one great classic of otterdom, Tarka, and in due course, we will celebrate the others featured in Maxwell’s tribute. 

Source: Gavin Maxwell, Ring of Bright Water (London: Penguin, 1974), p. 117

Photo credit: Elsemargriet at pixabay