“NOT another animal programme.”

My husband was moaning as we settled down to watch yet another wildlife documentary.

“They all blend into one,” he said, as polar bears replaced endangered Siberian tigers in the evening’s viewing schedule.

I admit, I do watch too many animal programmes. I like nothing better than to settle down in front of a wildlife documentary. I’ve even developed a liking for tug-at-the-heart-strings series such as that presented by Paul O’Grady, with orphaned hippos and rhinos staring mournfully at the camera lens.

But, recently, I admit, my obsession has gone too far. I even enjoy watching the static camera set up on Springwatch to film random creatures as they shuffle by. Attempts by my family to switch channels are met with protests. “But something might happen in the next couple of minutes...hang on, wasn’t that a tail slinking off into the distance?”

You could argue that there are far too many nature programmes. Along with property and cookery shows, they tend to dominate the channels.

But I’m not complaining. I started my love of wildlife programmes young, with Tales of the Riverbank and the antics of Hammy hamster and Roderick the water rat. Then came Animal Magic with Johnny Morris.

Now there are more animal programmes for adults than for children, most showing teams of scientists trekking off into remote jungle backwaters, hoping to unearth a new species of fruit bat or giant centipede.

I find them all fascinating, as much for the insight into far-flung corners of the globe as the animals and insects themselves. It’s amazing to be able to get up-close-and-personal with the world’s amazing array of creatures.

I’m not including those daft ‘You’ve Been Framed’-type shows, with dogs playing Frisbee and rabbits on jet skis. I have enough of those sorts of antics at home with two young cats treating the bath like a velodrome, getting knotted up in duvet covers (thankfully discovered before the washer was turned on) and repeatedly knocking over the ironing board.

But I do enjoy those wacky and bizarre natural events, with thousands of enormous cane toads crossing parts of Australia, to millions of red crabs migrating on Christmas Island.

And I particularly liked a programme I saw last week about Cat Island, an island off Japan with a village that is home to hundreds of the animals. They were brought there to keep mice away from silkworm farms and their population has ballooned. To a cat lover like me, it looked like Paradise, although they do all have to go to the toilet somewhere.

So what am I going to watch tonight? Typically, after harping on about it, there isn’t an animal programme on.

I’ll have to make do with the live, in-house entertainment.