Animal instinct

MICHELLE CHILDERLEY talks to animals.

And while she may sound like a latter day Dr Dolittle, rather than having animals flocking to her for advice, she finds that she’s more likely to get advice from them.

She gives me an example. Recently, she was invited on British television to discuss her powers. “I didn’t know whether to go out and buy new clothes to make myself feel very special or just be myself. So I went to the pond near where I live where there is a very wise heron — and when I went to him he just said two words — ‘dignity’ and ‘despair’, which I felt was very much me — so I decided to just be me. And it all went very well.”