Redvers Come Home - Roscoe Howells

The City foxes, after many generations away from their country roots, have changed their whole way of life, even to the extent of living in communities run by a Committee, and according to a constitution. Disturbed eventually by building developments and the construction of a great new motorway through the heart of the City, they find life becoming more and more difficult and they decide to move out into the country.

Herman, one of their prominent leaders, had been taken in and reared by humans when he was small, before being released into the woods. From there he eventually made his way back to the City where he persuaded them that the country foxes were stupid, that they could live much better in the country, because times had changed since the days of their ancestors, and that humans were now no longer against them.

But Redvers, a wise old fox, remembers the stories which have been handed down since time out of mind. He knows that things are not always what they may seem, and advises caution. He is overruled, however, mainly at the instigation of Ranter, the Committee convener, and the exodus to the country begins.

The journey is not without incident and loss of live, but the City foxes eventually reach their destination. The country foxes are found to be friendly and helpful, but they do not take kindly to being told by the newcomers how they should live. And then the City foxes find that the country foxes are not so stupid after all, and that things are not at all as they had imagined them to be.

When the scientific researchers and animal protection groups begin to take an interest there are some highly unexpected and amusing developments.

The Author: Roscoe Howells, a born raconteur and writer on the countryside, here tells in this, his seventeenth book, a delightful tale combining his own brand of humour with the depth of knowledge his readers have long come to expect.