LifeIn the centenary of naturalist Gerald Durrells birth, a new memoir adds rich new layers to what we know about the man 8 January 2025 Gerald Durrell covered in lemursVictor Watts/ShutterstockMyself & Other AnimalsGerald Durrell (Viking)The conservationist Gerald Durrells first dog, Simon, was a coward. To the honey-coloured cocker spaniel, a garden hose was as deadly as a spitting cobra, and he once went into a nervous decline lasting several days after unexpectedly encountering a snowman.It is nuggets like this that make Durrells writings so appealing. Anthropomorphised as his descriptions of animals often are, they combine keen observation with humour in a way that shows just how well he could understand what made animals tick and how to bring them to life on the page.