Obituary - Ernest Neal (badger expert)
Daily Telegraph - 18th April 1998
Schoolmaster who became an expert on badgers and
raised two otters that developed star qualities in front of the
cameras
ERNEST Neal, who has died aged 86, was a
schoolmaster and expert on badgers.
Neal first became fascinated by badgers in 1936,
when he was a young master at Rendcomb College, near Cirencester.
With a knack for firing others with enthusiasm, he was soon
undertaking detailed scientific study of the local setts with his
sixth formers.
In 1946 he published Exploring Nature With a
Camera, and two years later The Badger, which has gone through
five editions. The frontispiece was the first colour photograph of
a wild badger to be taken at night.
In 1952 Neal scored another first when he filmed
badgers by night, in the grounds of his brother William Keith
Neal's house at Bishopstrow, near Warminster. The next year he
obtained even better results at Camberley; indeed the badgers grew
so blasé that they were not even disturbed by the fireworks on
Coronation night.
See the following link for the full story:
Other Obituaries of Ernest Neal
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