As a child, Richard Kerridge loved encountering wild creatures and capturing them for his backyard zoo. In a country without many large animals, lizards were the first to catch his attention, as they were the closest contact with African wildlife he watched on television. There were Slow Worms, darting like aircraft in comic stories, and the coveted Great Crested Newt, with its huge golden eye. The gardens of Richard and his reptile-obsessed friends were filled with old bathtubs containing lizards, frogs, toads, newts, snakes, and, once, an Adder. Beyond capturing them, he wanted to understand them. What might it be like to be cold-blooded, to sleep through the winter, to shed your skin, and to taste chemical scents on your tongue? Richard continued to pose these questions throughout a life filled with fascinating study. Part natural history guide to these animals, part passionate nature writing, and part personal history, Cold Blood is a unique and insightful memoir about our relationship with nature. Through careful observation, it shows how even suburbs can seem wild when we approach these fascinating, curious, and strange creatures.