Not to be confused with Kipling's "Jungle Book" story of the same name, this was on a library rack of Australian fiction. As it was written by the samNot to be confused with Kipling's "Jungle Book" story of the same name, this was on a library rack of Australian fiction. As it was written by the same guy who wrote Correlli's Mandolin, I thought this would be an adult novel, or at least as semi-adult as most dog-based fiction is. However, this is seriously in the middle grade range at best, (even though the library hadn't shelved it with YA or juvenile - will have to mention when I return).
That said - a quick, enjoyable read that's as much about the hardy folks of the Australian far west as it is about Red Dog (who reminded me a lot of a more macho "Hachi") himself. A tough dry people in a tough dry place that's so scorchingly hot, fuel tanks will literally explode if left out in the blazing sun. So, y'know, where we're all headed…...more
Probably the two most discouraging - yet frequently used - words to describe the illegal trade in endangered species: "Chinese demand." Demand for shaProbably the two most discouraging - yet frequently used - words to describe the illegal trade in endangered species: "Chinese demand." Demand for shark fin, tiger bones, seahorses, etc., etc...and now (although surprisingly for neither the dining table nor medicine cabinet), the arowana, which has become a much sought-after lucky charm and status symbol in Chinese communities around the world. Even my wife's otherwise favorite uncle kept a huge silver arowana in a small, barren tank just inside the front door of his Taipei apartment (where the fung shui was strongest, obviously).
Yet despite the ultimately depressing subject matter, I just loved this book, as it hit so many of my personal sweet spots: Southeast Asia (Taiwan/Singapore/Borneo/Burma), wildlife, jungles, rivers, even Alfred Russel Wallace.
Aside from following the author's single-minded (if at times frankly hard to understand) global search for the wild arowana, Voigt also goes off on delightful and/or informative tangents on such subjects as the history of domesticated animals, biogeography, overlooked/"ripped off" scientists (not just Wallace as he was basically screwed by Darwin; but also Peter Artedi, who was not only plagiarized by Carl Linnaeus - he of "order, genus, species" fame - but [many suspect] may have even been murdered by him), Burmese politics, rain forest devastation and a host of other topics - all of which made for fascinating and informative reading. She also introduces a delightful cast of supporting characters, including the indestructible (and thoroughly unreliable) explorer/collector Heiko Bleher, “dragon whisperer” Alex Chang, Singapore's “Kenny the Fish” and Burma’s Tin Win, as well as historical oddball Ida Pfeiffer, who circled the globe twice in the mid-1800s, wrote two best-selling books - both of which are available from the Gutenberg Project (yay!) - and apparently hated everybody everywhere, (and I will definitely read more about her).
My only complaint - and it is a BIG one - is that while I appreciated the scattered maps which were essential in following her travels through such remote regions as Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), Tenasserim (the "tail" of Burma), and the Putumayo (Colombian river which feeds into the Amazon); this is after all a book about tropical fish…so where the hell are the photographs? Voigt goes to great lengths describing the calligraphic-like patterning of the newly discovered "batik" arowana (in which she played a small role)…so SHOW US! But no; aside from the moody/artsy photo on the cover - cool as it is - there's just nothing other than a couple of B&W naturalists' sketches, (also from the mid-1800s). Frankly unforgiveable, and almost knocked a whole star off my rating.
But - just couldn't do it, as everything else was just that good. While lacking the humor of Redmond O'Hanlon (Into the Heart of Borneo), Voigt writes with the journalistic chops and "put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is" adventurous spirit of Carl Hoffman (The Last Wild Men of Borneo; Savage Harvest), which is no faint praise. Sadly, while this book came out back in 2016, the internet shows no indication that Voigt has been working on anything since then...which is a shame, as I would definitely love to see what she comes up with - and where she goes - next....more
Did you really think That you could hide fish in rice? Oh, the green paste burns!
JUST THE TWO OF US
There is nothing like long Direct Intense Awkward Unfortunate Eye contact To help us see That maybe you put my litter box Too close to your favorite chair
THAT TOP SHELF
I think I can jump to that top shelf I want to jump to that top shelf I know I can jump to that top shelf I am jumping to that top shelf I missed that top shelf by a good six feet And now everything is on the floor And I'm left wondering Why people even bother buying china If it breaks so easily
I figured this book would be of interest to a natural history buff and former diver like me - and then likely no one else; and so I was pretty dubiousI figured this book would be of interest to a natural history buff and former diver like me - and then likely no one else; and so I was pretty dubious about the cover sticker claiming it was a "#1 International Bestseller." But damn if it's not, with over 18,000 ratings on GR alone.
Svensson has structured the book beautifully, alternating factual chapters on all aspects of eel-ology with tales of his childhood and bonding with his father over their shared years of eel fishing (and beyond). As such, I'll say up front: 4 stars for the eel stuff, but a 5th for the lovely father-son/family story that evolves over the course of the book. Well played, Patrik!*
On the eel side…well, there was a LOT about eels, to the point where it almost (but never quite) got overwhelming - although I would still recommend this as a nightstand book to be read over time, rather than straight through as a "main read."
As to why eels are so interesting, I had frankly never really heard of "The Eel Question" before, but apparently that's been a big thing since Aristotle's time, progressing up a list of questions as the previous ones oh-so-slowly got answered: Is the eel a fish? (Yes) Does it spontaneously generate? (No) How/where/when does it spawn? (Um…) Because that last one is the truly big one, and which is only partially answered even today.
Other fun eel things I learned, in no particular order:
- Both Sigmund Freud (who was one messed up guy) and Rachel Carson (who I knew little about, but who will probably become my next obsession)** were big eel people in their pre-fame careers;
- Eels are basically immortal, if prevented from undergoing their final metamorphosis and returning to their original spawning grounds, (just Google "Brantevik eel");
- American and European eels (which differ only in their number of vertebrae) most likely spawn and begin their tremendous Gulf Stream journeys together, before the Americans turn left and the Europeans turn right - and of course, no one knows how or why;
- Eel fishing played a crucial role in both Ireland's "troubles" and the Spanish Basque separatist movements;
- The American eel played a far greater role in the original Thanksgiving than turkeys every did;
- Eels can be prepared in nearly as many ways as Forrest's pal Bubba could prepare shrimp: eel fried with rye straw; eel salted and fried with juniper brush; "sailor's" eel braised in dark beer and butter; eel stuffed with dill and salt; smoked eel; boiled eel; eel soup; etc.;
- And finally, I now know the difference between anadromous and catadromous fish, (the first spend their lives in the sea and then return to fresh water to spawn - think salmon - while the second do the reverse - think eels)
Sadly - and pretty much like all such 21st Century natural history/environment stories - this book ends on a discouraging note. Eels - which had already been around for millions of years before humans ever laid eyes on them - are considered seriously endangered, for a variety or reasons: diseases introduced by man (during attempts to breed in captivity - all of course unsuccessful) and then spread through international fish trade (thanks Japanese diners!); dams, locks and hydroelectric turbines which kill up to 70% of all eels trying to swim downstream to the ocean (the essential first step in their reproduction cycle); and of course relentless overfishing (Japan again)…and that's not even looking at the effects of climate change.
Anyway, a fascinating book for anyone interested in such things - although that said, I have to again put in a plug for the even better (at least from the wider-variety-of-purely-awesome-science POV) Eloquence of the Sardine: Extraordinary Encounters Beneath the Sea, which not only covers the same general eel story but goes into over a dozen more “absolutely astounding tales from the sea!" _______________________________
*…and handled far better than Sy Montgomery did in her otherwise excellent The Soul of an Octopus, where she unfortunately went a little overboard in her breathless "ooh, I'm touching an octopus!" and "ooh, I'm learning to scuba dive and it's hard!" stuff, and overall touchy-feely New Age-iness.
** Yeah, Rachel Carson - gonna have to read more about her. Only knew her as an Ayn Rand-type famous name connected to a famous book, but had no idea she started out as an oceanographer. Cool! Oh, and really - Freud was one seriously messed up dude; he should have probably seen a psychiatrist :D...more
Christmas gift from my daughter-in-law, who knows my tastes well - thanks, Natalya!
Have long enjoyed both Sy Montgomery and the "Scientists in the FieChristmas gift from my daughter-in-law, who knows my tastes well - thanks, Natalya!
Have long enjoyed both Sy Montgomery and the "Scientists in the Field" series, and definitely have a thing for octopuses, (NOT "octopi," as this book makes very clear, as one does NOT add Latin suffixes to Greek roots; some folks are even pushing now for the more fully-Greek "octopodes"). That said, first two-thirds of the book involve the author and the science team she's working with in Moorea not finding any cephalopods, and so more just introduction to tropical reefs and octopuses in general, much of which I already knew through my years of diving in Taiwan. So I ultimately couldn't rate this one as high as some of the author's others in this series, which covered animals I was less familiar with, and therefore learned more about, (i.e., tree kangaroos, tapirs, freshwater tropical fish, and snow leopards). However, will definitely continue to read more of Montgomery's work, both in this series and elsewhere....more
I swear, with all the crap saved from my childhood, I should be spending my time posting on eBay instead of Goodreads!
Case in point: back in "simpler I swear, with all the crap saved from my childhood, I should be spending my time posting on eBay instead of Goodreads!
Case in point: back in "simpler times" (i.e, the late-'50s), the high point of any given week was shopping for breakfast cereal, because all the good ones had free toys inside - especially, for some reason, Nabisco's Rice and Wheat Honeys. We'd get a new box, dump it all out in a big bowl to find the prize, and then…I dunno, I guess we'd eventually eat the cereal. But that's not important.
Well, like most kids that age, I was obsessed with dinosaurs - but equally so with the saber-tooth tigers, woolly mammoths and other monstrous mammals (the term "megafauna" hadn't been coined yet) which followed them. So it was a pretty big deal when in 1957 (or so says the internet), Nabisco tossed this set of "pre-historic beasts" into the mix:
[image]
…and damn if I didn't recently find half of 'em in this big ol' box of dinosaurs that sat undisturbed in my mom's basement for a good half century, and which my new grandson is now starting to enjoy.
[image]
So (and with apologies), all a long way of saying that I've been fascinated with these creatures and the famous "La Brea tar pits" for a LONG time. I finally had the good fortune to visit this world famous site in the middle of freakin' downtown Los Angeles - the only actively excavated "urban" Ice Age fossil site found anywhere in the world - and the equally impressive Page Museum some twenty years ago, and truly hope to visit again someday. But in the meantime, this book was a great way to learn some of the actual science behind the still-jaw-dropping "wow" factor of those bizarre, enormous skeletons.
The book covers the creation of the asphalt deposits; their human discovery and excavation/exploitation; some of the more famous paleontologists connected to La Brea (including Chester Stock and the eponymous George C. Page…although now I think about it, I'm pretty sure I'm using that wrong - it should be the museum that is eponymous, right?)…as well as - and most importantly - the critters themselves. Sabertoothed cats and American lions; zebra-like equids and enormous bison; short-faced bears twice the size of a grizzly; camels and dire wolves; mammoths and mastodons and those truly weird giant sloths…whole thing made me feel like a kid again!
There's much to learn here: paleopathology, the difference between fossilization and petrification…and as always I was just fascinated by the ridiculous amount of information smart folk can glean just by staring at a bunch of old bones: "Studies of the bones in the throat that anchor the tongue indicate that this species could roar like a lion…its robust front limbs indicate that it sought out prey that greatly exceeded its own weight, but its skeletal structure suggests that it did not chase its prey extensively…this animal was an active predator that relied on stealth and ambush rather than speed, using surprise and a short rapid pursuit followed by a violent impact and a lethal bite."
So yay - science is cool! Now go use it to fix the damn planet....more
You can grasp everything you need to know about my relationship with poetry from the fact that fully half the books on my "poetry-verse" bookshelf werYou can grasp everything you need to know about my relationship with poetry from the fact that fully half the books on my "poetry-verse" bookshelf were written by either cats, dogs or cockroaches. But damn if those little bastards can't write; and they seem to have a deeper understanding of the world and their place in it than I ever will :)
I haven't yet read Marciuliano's debut I Could Pee on This: and Other Poems by Cats, but I did read his later Claw The System: Poems From The Cat Uprising which I loved; and as I'm much more a dog than cat person to begin with, was therefore thrilled to find this book at our giant used bookstore…and IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. As with Claw, just great stuff:
LITTLE ONE
WHO YOU LOOKING AT, HUH? WHO YOU LOOKING AT?! YOU THINK I'M AFRAID OF YOU, HUH?! YOU THINK I'M AFRAID OF YOU?! YOU'RE NOT SO BIG! YOU'RE NOT SO TOUGH! C'MON, I DARE YOU! C'MON, I'LL DESTROY YOU! THAT'S IT, JUST WALK AWAY! GO ON, JUST WALK AWAY! Oh please, just walk away Oh God, that dog was a monster Oh man, I need to relax Or at least switch to herbal tea
WINGMAN
I wag my tail I tilt my head I give a little wink I flash my smile I show my belly I give a little lick I do it all From sit to speak To attract women far and near Then you chime in With something about "fan fiction" And I realize we're going to die alone
AND THEN OUR EYES LOCK
And then our eyes lock And then the world stops And then I realize Man, I'm really wrapped around your leg Man, I'm really going to town Man, I'm clearly not stopping So believe me when I say Our next twenty minutes together Will be the most awkward of my entire life
Nice intro to these fascinating, ancient animals for children and dumb adults like me who are using this as a warm-up while waiting for the the main eNice intro to these fascinating, ancient animals for children and dumb adults like me who are using this as a warm-up while waiting for the the main event, Montgomery's just-published Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell, which will hopefully do for turtles what her The Soul of an Octopus 2015 did for those bad boys.
And yep, that's an illustration on the cover, not a photo - Patterson's paintings are just that good!...more
Charming, inoffensive book that I just HAD to read after the school board in Florida's Manatee County* banned it from public schools last week, becausCharming, inoffensive book that I just HAD to read after the school board in Florida's Manatee County* banned it from public schools last week, because right-wing activists decided that the two men who raised Christian the Lion, John Rendall and Ace Bourke, "seemed" gay.
The book of course makes no mention of either man's sexuality - it isn't their story after all, although Rendall went on to be married twice and have several children. So as far as I can tell, the "evidence" is probably based on this one illustration, (bearing in mind that this was 1970, when EVERYONE had long hair and paisley sofas):
[image] Anyway - cute book about a touching true story (watch the famous "reunion" video on YouTube, if you haven't already seen it), that survived just fine in our libraries for over a decade, before once again making the news for all the wrong reasons. But if it brings more people to Christian the Lion's story - and alerts more people to "Christian" the nutjobs' ignorance and hypocrisy - then more power to it.
Three stars for the story, a fourth for Amy June Bates' delightful illustrations, and a fifth star just because. ____________________________________
* Hey, Manatee County - you do know that manatees are among the gayest animals out there, right? With their well-documented "frequent same-sex genital play"? Just sayin'....more
Oh, dear - such a strong 5-star beginning…but then it just veered further and further away from what I was expecting - basically, a mysterious disappeOh, dear - such a strong 5-star beginning…but then it just veered further and further away from what I was expecting - basically, a mysterious disappearance being investigated by a cephalopod detective - into yet another a tedious tale of millennial angst.
I loved the character of Marcellus - there just wasn't enough of him. And I enjoyed Tova too, although while it's frequently noted that she is 70 years old, she is consistently described as someone at least a decade older - growing up on Chuck Berry and Little Richard; afraid to drive on the highway; lacking both a cellphone and email…I mean, my mom was younger than that on her 90th birthday! And then Cameron…well, the less said about him, the better - other than that Van Pelt missed him by at least a decade too; since for a 30-year-old, he consistently came across as a moody and whiney teenager.
As a debut novel, I'm cutting Van Pelt some slack and rounding up to 3 stars. But just like it's always a gamble when a male author writes a female character; a young author writing a senior protagonist really needs to do their homework - or at least spend some quality time with their parents/grandparents.
Meanwhile, I really hope "cephalopod detective" becomes its own genre. Maybe...Sherloctopus Holmes?...more
I thought that after enjoying the dumb/fun movie “The Meg” and frankly looking forward to the dumb/fun sequel, this book (on which the first film was I thought that after enjoying the dumb/fun movie “The Meg” and frankly looking forward to the dumb/fun sequel, this book (on which the first film was apparently based) might be dumb fun too. Well, it certainly was pretty dumb - but definitely not fun.
Strongest impression: I cannot recall anywhere a more consistently unappealing cast of scuzzball characters - and in particular, more horrifically rendered women…does he not know any?
Horrible characters aside (who you quickly come to hope ALL get eaten), the shark bits - once they started - were pretty entertaining…for a while. But even those soon became repetitive; a giant indestructible shark can only chomp so many people, sink so many boats, and even blow up so many helicopters before one becomes inured to the whole thing. And finally, to top things off narrator Sean Runnette had a fairly strong case “S-retraction,” where his S’s inconsistently sounded like SH’s; and so the whole story sounded like it was being read to me by Austin Powers’ Dutch nemesis, “Goldmember.”
Alten seems to have done his research in a B-level Crichton/Benchley sort of way, to the point where he has apparently written at least six more books in the “Meg” series - so good for him. But for me, this one was more than enough.
I’m still going to see the second movie, though.
(RANDOM NOTES: My favorite GR comment from a friend’s review was that this book should be taken as a drinking game, where you take a shot every time the author writes “whale blubber” - wish I’d read that earlier!)...more
Never a particularly big bug fan, but they had a great insect zoo in Malaysia, and "enormous bugs in shadow boxes" were a popular tourist item there aNever a particularly big bug fan, but they had a great insect zoo in Malaysia, and "enormous bugs in shadow boxes" were a popular tourist item there and in Borneo, so I've at least seen a lot of the weirder ones. And so when I saw this book displayed at the library, I thought it might be interesting (I've learned to trust DK at this point) - and once again I was NOT disappointed; just amazing stuff on every page.
I'm sure I knew much of this when I was a smart child,* but had definitely forgotten most of it as a dumb adult - but these (generally) little guys are FASCINATING. How wasps build their nests/how grasshoppers jump/how caterpillars eat leaves/how beetles wage war; the exploded view showing all the bug body parts (and I'd forgotten that ALL legs are attached to the thorax, never the abdomen); as the most prehistoric of insects, mayflies and dragonflies are the only ones that can't fold their wings at rest; beetles' hard "shells" are actually their first pair of wings (and flies are one of the only insects that have just TWO wings, which they flap an unbelievable 200 times per second!); complete vs. incomplete metamorphosis…the list goes on and on, but combined with the great (and often creepily enlarged) photos, this was just one informative book.
Oh, and about "bugs." Turns out that's an actual group of insects (that includes among it's 80,000 [!] species cicadas, stinkbugs, bedbugs and aphids) - not just slang for, well, "bugs" in general.** _______________________________
* No idea what is taught in school anymore - do kids still learn biology in or around 7th grade? I remember learning about insects at some point, and dissecting earthworms, frogs and even…I'm thinking a fish of some kind? Of courses, we also had a class in "music appreciation," took various art classes as well as three kinds of "shop," took field trips to museums and concert halls, and other cool stuff which, again, I just have no idea if they're still part of ANY curriculum.
** The other "big five" groups are: beetles, flies, wasps (which for some reason includes ants), and butterflies/moths. "Minor" groups include cockroaches, earwigs (which I was glad to confirm do NOT actually burrow into your ears), dragonflies, stick insects, grasshoppers, ant lions, lice, mantids and (I'm sure) many others....more
I've never been a cat person, but my son and his family are; and since I'm a no-bullshit guy and Eliott is a no-bullshit cat, we seem to have developeI've never been a cat person, but my son and his family are; and since I'm a no-bullshit guy and Eliott is a no-bullshit cat, we seem to have developed some sort of no-bullshit friendship.
And I have to say that based on what I've seen so far, this collection is not only some damn fine poetry, but also spot-on in its depictions of the feline mind. Every one of these in a humorous yet pithy gem - just delightful. A few examples, taken totally at random:
YOU SHOULDN'T BE MY ONLY FOCUS
I'm not looking at you today I don't have to look at you today I'm your partner, I'm your equal I'm not here to be your adoring fan You want someone to be your pet monkey? Then get a pet monkey See what it's like when that pet monkey Tears into your face because it's a Tuesday Or they took your soft cough for "Oh, it's on!" Then you will be saying "Gee, I wish I had a cat who stuck to their principles And led their own life." By the way, your left wall is fascinating
HOW CAN YOU SLEEP?
How can you sleep When everything is falling apart? How can you sleep When everything is being undone? How can you sleep Knowing you're needed now more than ever? How Can You Sleep Each time I rap your skull Because it's already 3 a.m. And we’ve wasted half the day
TRICK
Why should I learn a trick For your amusement When I can learn a fact For my enrichment Such as gravity Plus red wine Plus a gorgeous blue carpet Equals $800 purple
LOOK TO YOURSELF
I look in the mirror I see a cat who is strong I see a cat who is smart I see a cat I can believe in I see a cat I can trust I see a cat who will lead the way I see everything I've been looking for In a cat Who needs to stop waving hello Because my leg's getting tired Having constantly to wave back
Fun premise and just my type of sarcastic, stupid, foul-mouthed humor. But the whole thing gets pretty repetitive pretty fast, so best to read 2-3 entFun premise and just my type of sarcastic, stupid, foul-mouthed humor. But the whole thing gets pretty repetitive pretty fast, so best to read 2-3 entries at a time. That said, the individual entries are pretty good:
They're called superb fairywrens, but don't be fooled - not only are they not real wrens, but they're also not that superb. They fly around and eat insects, which you have to admit is pretty standard for a lot of birds. I guess one interesting thing is that the males have bright blue patches on their caps and cheeks, which happen to be the color of Don Johnson's powder-blue Armani suit in Season 2 of the 1980's TV series "Miami Vice." Damn, I loved that show. Except for all the fucking birds in the opening titles.
While all these descriptions include a couple of good lines, the childish puns in Kracht's renaming lost their charm after about four pages. The "Red-Breasted Nuthatch" becomes the "Red Breasted Butt-hunch;" "Green Catbird" = "Green Cat Turd;" "Northern Bobwhite" = "Northern Buttwipe…" - you get the idea. "African Suck Puppet" for "African Rock Pipit" is probably the best of the bunch; but then it's all south from there.
Anyhoo…good for a few laughs, and God knows we need those in our rapidly melting, increasingly stupid world (as noted in the title). [image]...more
We had both geckos and smaller monitor lizards (of which Komodo dragons are a family member) in Malaysia; the former runnin(READ TOGETHER WITH Geckos)
We had both geckos and smaller monitor lizards (of which Komodo dragons are a family member) in Malaysia; the former running up and down our apartment walls and eating all the bad bugs, while the latter sunned themselves on the side of the road on the daily bus ride through the jungle to Mont Kiara International School.
Unlike the cute pictures in Geckos, this book has some rather iffy photos of dragons scarfing down large dead mammals that might be a bit much for really young readers. Also, I didn't know young Komodos spent their early years living in trees, to avoid being eaten by - among other things - other dragons.
FUN STORY: A friend of mine came home and found a 3-foot monitor hissing at him from under the dining room table, and so he had to call the snake/lizard/monkey removal guy - because, you know, in Malaysia that's a job....more
We had both geckos and smaller monitor lizards (of which Komodo dragons are a family member) in Malaysia; the forme(READ TOGETHER WITH Komodo Dragons)
We had both geckos and smaller monitor lizards (of which Komodo dragons are a family member) in Malaysia; the former running up and down our apartment walls and eating all the bad bugs, while the latter sunned themselves on the side of the road on the daily bus ride through the jungle to Mont Kiara International School.
This book includes lovely pictures of some of the more colorful geckos, who unlike most other lizards (I learned) have rounded scales, which give them their bumpy appearance. Sadly, we only had the dull gray-brown "common house geckos" in our apartment.
FUN STORIES: Once found an extremely desiccated gecko "mummy" at the bottom of a box of breakfast cereal - reminded me of how when I was a kid, many cereals came with a small toy in the box, except that this one, well…wasn't a toy. Another time, I opened a bathroom door while an unseen gecko had two feet on the door and two on the jamb, so that he lost traction on both and fell to the floor, where he splatted like the Susan Sarandon puppet in "Team America." I guess to be light enough to defy gravity, you have to sacrifice things like a thick protective skin....more
Absolutely delightful, inspiring and charmingly-illustrated story for any child (particularly young girl) who is interested in animals or has ever beeAbsolutely delightful, inspiring and charmingly-illustrated story for any child (particularly young girl) who is interested in animals or has ever been told "you can't." If you're not familiar with Anne Innis Dagg, you (and your kids) should become so - either through this book, her autobiographical Pursuing Giraffe: A 1950s Adventure, or the award-winning documentary "The Woman Who Loved Giraffes." She was doing the "young girl studying wildlife in Africa" years before either Jane Goodall or Diane Fossey, and is definitely on my top five list of people I'd ever want to just sit and have a cup of coffee with.
Also - never knew that the collective noun for a group of giraffes is a "tower," but that just makes me smile....more
Have enjoyed Wood's other books describing his epic hikes up the Nile and across the Himalaya, but had never known him as a naturalist until I saw thiHave enjoyed Wood's other books describing his epic hikes up the Nile and across the Himalaya, but had never known him as a naturalist until I saw this book. However, he does an excellent job combining his extensive knowledge and research with personal experience to provide pretty much everything a non-academic reader would want to know about African elephants. The book comes at these amazing creatures from pretty much every angle, including their evolutionary history, behavior, physiology, intelligence, etc.; but then switches focus to the enormous challenges facing their survival in terms of habitat loss/fragmentation, poaching, trophy hunting, constant regional warfare, and the lingering impacts of the 19th-20th century "legal" ivory trade.
As with many non-fiction audiobooks, I also like to get the physical book so I can see any photos or diagrams, and this book had a good - if small - selection of both; including this one, which pretty much sums up the entire story in two maps (historical range c. 1800; present range 2019):
[image]
FUN FACTS: For people my age who remember a childhood that included maybe a total of four types of dinosaurs (brontosaurus, stegosaurus, triceratops and T-Rex), I'm amazed at just how many have been discovered and catalogued in my lifetime. Similarly, I always thought there were only two types of elephant - African and Asian - but apparently more recent science classifies Africa's smaller forest elephants as separate from the larger savannah species. I also found it fascinating to realize that Asian elephants are more closely related - by like, millions of years - to the extinct mammoths and mastodons than they are to either African species.
Sadly however, almost all other facts in this book are less fun, as the challenges to elephant survival seem to greatly outweigh any realistic solutions. However, Wood tries his best to end on a positive note, outlining a number of both short- and long-term approaches that offer at least a glimmer of hope. Interestingly and surprisingly, he provides a convincing argument that the best long-term hope lies in increasing educational opportunities for women in the developing world - too long to get into here, but well worth reading and pursuing if you're at all interested in the topic.
Otherwise…by the end of this book, my more pessimistic side made me create a new GR bookshelf called "humans suck;" and I was even more depressed to find that I could quickly add nearly 20 of my previously-listed books to this shelf :(...more
I enjoyed Montgomery's The Hawk's Way: Encounters with Fierce Beauty, but thought that would be enough about her and birds for awhile. But then I saw I enjoyed Montgomery's The Hawk's Way: Encounters with Fierce Beauty, but thought that would be enough about her and birds for awhile. But then I saw the library also had this, and thought it looked kinda interesting...which is exactly what it was - kinda interesting.
The actual science around hummingbirds is truly fascinating, to the point of being darn near unbelievable at times - their wings beat 60 times/second, their hearts beat 500 times/minute, and they breathe 250 times/minute. They also visit an impossible 1500 flowers and eat 600-700 insects per day, drinking the equivalent of 15 gallons of nectar if scaled up to human size. They have the biggest hearts and consume the most food per body weight of any vertebrate - and yet baby hummingbirds are so small and delicate that if fed too much, they will pop.
And that's where this book starts to drag. While Montgomery worked the science in The Hawk's Way around the story of her actually learning the art of falconry (pretty cool), her personal entrée into The Hummingbird's Gift revolved around her helping a friend raise a pair of orphaned baby hummers so that they could be released back into the wild. And so we get a lot of information about baby hummingbirds…like, A LOT.
Have mentioned in nearly all my reviews of Montgomery's books, so hate to repeat myself - but for my tastes, her books would be a lot more interesting if she was in them a little less. But still, I seem to keep coming back to her, because she really does know her shit and is just so passionate about her love for animals and their behavior, even if she does get a little cringey at times.
So, turns out this slim book is just an expansion (with photos) of a section in Montgomery's earlier and more substantial Birdology - which for me wasSo, turns out this slim book is just an expansion (with photos) of a section in Montgomery's earlier and more substantial Birdology - which for me was just great, because while I don't really care about parrots or chickens or pigeons, the birds discussed here - falcons, hawks, eagles and their kin - are the last surviving "fierce dinosaurs;" and who doesn't love a good raptor?
As always, Montgomery absolutely shines when she focuses on the animals themselves, and so there is great stuff here on raptor biology (who knew a hawk's eyes weigh over twice as much as its brain?) and psychology (in short, they're violent but noble assholes). Unfortunately, however, the author - who is always as important a character in her books as the animals themselves - all-too-frequently veers into the touchy-feely, hippy-dippy persona I've griped about elsewhere; stressing over things like having to buy her own falconing glove because it's made of (gasp!) leather, and spouting such cringey non-essentials as "I am lost in her pleasure, lost in her beauty, drowning in my love of this bird," and "perhaps these gorgeous creatures - who I love like an Aztec loves the sun - will learn to trust me."
For that reason, I still prefer Montgomery's excellent books written for a younger audience in the "Scientists in the Field" series, where she discusses with much less (or at least more palatable) personal hoo-ha her adventures among such fascinating critters as New Guinea's tree kangaroos, Brazil's tapirs, Mongolia's snow leopards, and the Amazon's tiny tropical fish, which form the mainstay of the global exotic fish trade.
Anyway...despite my grumpiness, I'll begrudgingly continue my odd love/hate relationship with this outstanding naturalist, just because she truly is such a badass, if occasionally despite herself....more
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