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Cat behaviorist and star of Animal Planet's hit television show My Cat from Hell, Jackson Galaxy, a.k.a. "Cat Daddy," isn't what you might expect for a cat expert (as The New York Times noted, with his goatee and tattoos, he "looks like a Hells Angel"). Yet Galaxy's ability to connect with even the most troubled felines -- not to mention the stressed-out humans living in their wake -- is awe-inspiring. In this book, Galaxy tells the poignant story of his thirteen-year relationship with a petite gray-and-white short-haired cat named Benny, and gives singular advice for living with, caring for, and loving the feline in your home.
When Benny arrived in his life, Galaxy was a down-and-out rock musician with not too much more going on than a part-time job at an animal shelter and a drug problem. Benny's previous owner brought the cat to the shelter in a cardboard box to give him up. Benny had seen better days --- his pelvis had just been shattered by the wheels of a car -- and his owner insisted he'd been "unbondable" from day one. Nothing could have been further from the truth. An inspiring account of two broken beings who fixed each other, Cat Daddy is laced throughout with Galaxy's amazing "Cat Mojo" advice for understanding what cats need most from us humans in order to live happier, healthier lives.
When the Durrells could no longer endure the gray English climate, they did what any sensible family would do: sold their house and relocated to the sun-soaked island of Corfu.
As they settled into their new home, hilarious mishaps ensued as a ten-year-old Gerald Durrell pursued his interest in natural history and explored the island's fauna. Soon, toads and tortoises, bats and butterflies—as well as scorpions, geckos, ladybugs, praying mantises, octopuses, pigeons, and gulls—became a common sight in the Durrell villa.
Uproarious tales of the island's animals and Durrell's fond reflections on his family bring this delightful memoir to life. Capturing the joyous chaos of growing up in an unconventional household, My Family and Other Animals will transport you to a place you won't want to leave.
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Gerald Durrell including rare photos from the author's estate.
Dr. Jan Pol is not your typical veterinarian. Born and raised the Netherlands on a dairy farm, he is the star of Nat Geo Wild's hit show The Incredible Dr. Pol and has been treating animals in rural Michigan since the 1970s. Dr. Pol's more than 20,000 patients have ranged from white mice to 2600-pound horses and everything in between.
From the time he was twelve years old and helped deliver a litter of piglets on his family's farm to the incredible moments captured on his hit TV show, Dr. Pol has amassed a wealth of stories of what it's like caring for this menagerie of animals. He shares his own story of growing up surrounded by animals, training to be a vet in the Netherlands, and moving to Michigan to open his first practice in a pre fab house. He has established himself as an empathetic yet no-nonsense vet who isn't afraid to make the difficult decisions in order to do what's best for his patients—and their hard-working owners. A sick pet can bring heartache, but a sick cow or horse could threaten the very livelihood of a farmer whose modest profits are dependent on healthy livestock.
Reminiscent of the classic books of James Herriot, Never Turn Your Back on an Angus Cow is a charming, fascinating, and funny memoir that will delight animal lovers everywhere.
While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence on her nightstand. As a result, she discovers the solace and sense of wonder that this mysterious creature brings and comes to a greater understanding of her own place in the world.
Intrigued by the snail's molluscan anatomy, cryptic defenses, clear decision making, hydraulic locomotion, and courtship activities, Bailey becomes an astute and amused observer, offering a candid and engaging look into the curious life of this underappreciated small animal.
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating is a remarkable journey of survival and resilience, showing us how a small part of the natural world can illuminate our own human existence, while providing an appreciation of what it means to be fully alive.
A hunt for the American buffalo—an adventurous, fascinating examination of an animal that has haunted the American imagination.
In 2005, Steven Rinella won a lottery permit to hunt for a wild buffalo, or American bison, in the Alaskan wilderness. Despite the odds—there's only a 2 percent chance of drawing the permit, and fewer than 20 percent of those hunters are successful—Rinella managed to kill a buffalo on a snow-covered mountainside and then raft the meat back to civilization while being trailed by grizzly bears and suffering from hypothermia. Throughout these adventures, Rinella found himself contemplating his own place among the 14,000 years' worth of buffalo hunters in North America, as well as the buffalo's place in the American experience. At the time of the Revolutionary War, North America was home to approximately 40 million buffalo, the largest herd of big mammals on the planet, but by the mid-1890s only a few hundred remained. Now that the buffalo is on the verge of a dramatic ecological recovery across the West, Americans are faced with the challenge of how, and if, we can dare to share our land with a beast that is the embodiment of the American wilderness.
American Buffalo is a narrative tale of Rinella's hunt. But beyond that, it is the story of the many ways in which the buffalo has shaped our national identity. Rinella takes us across the continent in search of the buffalo's past, present, and future: to the Bering Land Bridge, where scientists search for buffalo bones amid artifacts of the New World's earliest human inhabitants; to buffalo jumps where Native Americans once ran buffalo over cliffs by the thousands; to the Detroit Carbon works, a "bone charcoal" plant that made fortunes in the late 1800s by turning millions of tons of buffalo bones into bone meal, black dye, and fine china; and even to an abattoir turned fashion mecca in Manhattan's Meatpacking District, where a depressed buffalo named Black Diamond met his fate after serving as the model for the American nickel.
Rinella's erudition and exuberance, combined with his gift for storytelling, make him the perfect guide for a book that combines outdoor adventure with a quirky blend of facts and observations about history, biology, and the natural world. Both a captivating narrative and a book of environmental and historical significance, American Buffalo tells us as much about ourselves as Americans as it does about the creature who perhaps best of all embodies the American ethos.
Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a fish? Or a parrot, dolphin, or an elephant? Do they experience thoughts that are similar to ours, or have feelings of grief and love? These are tough questions, but scientists are answering them. They know that ants teach and rats love to be tickled. They've discovered that dogs have thousand-word vocabularies and that birds practice their songs in their sleep. But how do scientists know these things?
Animal Wise takes us on a dazzling odyssey into the inner world of animals and among the pioneering researchers who are leading the way into once-uncharted territory: the animal mind. Morell uses her formidable gifts as a storyteller to transport us to field sites and laboratories around the world, introducing us to animal-cognition scientists and their surprisingly intelligent and sensitive subjects. She explores how this rapidly evolving, controversial field has only recently overturned old notions about why animals behave as they do. In this surprising and moving book, Morell brings the world of nature brilliantly alive in a nuanced, deeply felt appreciation of the human-animal bond.
How much do you know about the meat on your dinner plate? Journalist Christopher Leonard spent more than a decade covering the country's biggest meat companies, including four years as the national agribusiness reporter for the Associated Press. Now he delivers the first comprehensive look inside the industrial meat system, exposing how a handful of companies executed an audacious corporate takeover of the nation's meat supply.
Leonard's revealing account shines a light on the inner workings of Tyson Foods, a pioneer of the industrial system that dominates the market. You'll learn how the food industry got to where it is today, and how companies like Tyson have escaped the scrutiny they deserve. You'll discover how these companies are able to raise meat prices for consumers while pushing down the price they pay to farmers. And you'll even see how big business and politics have derailed efforts to change the system, from a years-long legal fight in Iowa to the Obama administration's recent failed attempt to pass reforms.
Important, timely, and explosive, The Meat Racket is an unvarnished portrait of the food industry that now dominates America's heartland.
Whether for eggs, meat, fun, or profit, chickens are the perfect addition to any new backyard grower's farm.
Backyard Farming: Raising Chickens is your guide to successfully caring for your flock. As a comprehensive primer for first-time chicken farmers, Raising Chickens includes detailed illustrations and informative photographs that help to ease new homesteaders into the world of backyard chicken farming.
Raising Chickens takes you from start to finish: from planning out your chickens' space, to hatching and raising new chicks, to keeping your birds happy, healthy, and well-fed, to enjoying your very own farm-fresh eggs and more.
With Raising Chickens, you will:
• Find the ideal breed of bird for your needs
• Construct a coop to minimize your workload and maximize your enjoyment
• Gather eggs for food, profit, or to hatch your own birds to add to your flock
• Use the freshest eggs possible in a variety of delicious recipes
…and many more tips and tricks from experienced farmers to help you avoid the most common mistakes.
Raising Chickens is your first big step to joining the growing movement of homemakers and homesteaders looking to make a return to a healthier, happier way of life—and it starts right in your own backyard.
Backyard Farming is a series of easy-to-use guides to help urban, suburban, and rural dwellers turn their homes into homesteads. Whether planning to grow food for the family or for sale at the local farmers market, Backyard Farming provides simple instruction and essential information in a convenient reference.
Hailed as a classic, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? explores the oddities and complexities of animal cognition—in crows, dolphins, parrots, sheep, wasps, bats, chimpanzees, and bonobos—to reveal how smart animals really are, and how we've underestimated their abilities for too long. Did you know that octopuses use coconut shells as tools, that elephants classify humans by gender and language, and that there is a young male chimpanzee at Kyoto University whose flash memory puts that of humans to shame? Fascinating, entertaining, and deeply informed, de Waal's landmark work will convince you to rethink everything you thought you knew about animal—and human—intelligence.
Weaving decades of field observations with exciting new discoveries about the brain, Carl Safina's landmark book offers an intimate view of animal behavior to challenge the fixed boundary between humans and nonhuman animals. In Beyond Words, readers travel to Amboseli National Park in the threatened landscape of Kenya and witness struggling elephant families work out how to survive poaching and drought, then to Yellowstone National Park to observe wolves sort out the aftermath of one pack's personal tragedy, and finally plunge into the astonishingly peaceful society of killer whales living in the crystalline waters of the Pacific Northwest.
Beyond Words brings forth powerful and illuminating insight into the unique personalities of animals through extraordinary stories of animal joy, grief, jealousy, anger, and love. The similarity between human and nonhuman consciousness, self-awareness, and empathy calls us to re-evaluate how we interact with animals. Wise, passionate, and eye-opening at every turn, Beyond Words is ultimately a graceful examination of humanity's place in the world.
A Wolf Called Romeo is the true story of the exceptional black wolf who spent seven years interacting with the people and dogs of Juneau, Alaska, living on the edges of their community, engaging in an improbable, awe-inspiring interspecies dance, and bringing the wild into sharp focus.
When Romeo first appeared, author Nick Jans and the other citizens of Juneau were wary, but as Romeo began to tag along with cross-country skiers on their daily jaunts, play fetch alongside local dogs, or simply lie near Nick and nap under the sun on a quiet afternoon, Nick and the rest of Juneau came to accept Romeo, and he them. Part memoir, part moving animal narrative, part foray into the mystique, lore, science, and history of the wolf, A Wolf Called Romeo is a book no animal lover should miss.
"Beautifully written, A Wolf Called Romeo is a thoughtful and moving story about one of nature's most evocative animals." —Patricia McConnell, author of The Other End of the Leash
"Jans is a perfect narrator for this story. He's deeply knowledgeable about the Alaskan wilderness and he evokes its harsh beauties in powerful and poetic prose . . . A tingling reminder of the basic bond that occasionally spans the space between two species." —Christian Science Monitor
NICK JANS is an award-winning writer, photographer, and author of numerous books, including The Grizzly Maze. He is a contributing editor to Alaska magazine and has written for a variety of publications, including Rolling Stone and the Christian Science Monitor.
Grandin's training as an animal scientist and her experience as a person with autism give her a perspective unlike any other expert in the field. Grandin and coauthor Catherine Johnson present their powerful theory that people with autism may be able to empathically understand animal behavior in a way that eludes neurotypical people—putting them in the ideal position to translate "animal talk." Exploring animal fear, pain, aggression, love, friendship, communication, learning, and even genius, Grandin is a faithful guide into their world.
Grandin, standing at the intersection of autism and animal science, offers unparalleled observations and extraordinary ideas, revealing that animals are smarter and more complex than anyone could have imagined.
This book was written with the intent of providing anyone who has ever wanted to start their own small scale farm the necessary resources and information needed to start raising small animals and cattle. You will learn everything you need to know to raise a wide variety of small animals. You will learn how to care for chickens, from choosing the right breed to raising them for egg production. You will learn how to handle geese and ducks, choosing the correct breeds, feeding, housing, breeding, and selecting the right ones for egg production. You will also learn about egg incubation, maintaining poultry health, and how raise them for meat. Other animals you will learn how to care for include rabbits, goats, sheep, dairy cows, and beef cattle.
Small farmers and animal experts have been interviewed in detail and their responses added to this book to provide additional insight into every aspect of raising farm animals. This includes details about how to purchase, house, feed, breed, record, and butcher animals of all types as well as how to gather milk, use goats and cows for maintaining your fields, and even keeping records of births and selling babies. Everything you might need to know about raising small animals for your farm is included in this guide to provide you the first steps to raising domesticated poultry and livestock.
Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company presidentâe(tm)s garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed.
Every year, many species make the journey from one place to another, following the same paths and ending up in the same places. Every year since boyhood, the acclaimed scientist and author Bernd Heinrich has done the same, returning to a beloved patch of western Maine woods. Which led him to wonder: What is the biology in humans of this primal pull toward a particular place, and how is it related to animal homing?
In The Homing Instinct, Heinrich explores the fascinating mysteries of animal migration: how geese imprint true visual landscape memory; how scent trails are used by many creatures to locate their homes with pinpoint accuracy; and how even the tiniest of songbirds are equipped for solar and magnetic orienteering over vast distances. And he reminds us that to discount our human emotions toward home is to ignore biology itself.
"A graceful blend of science and memoir . . . [Heinrich's] ability to linger and simply be there for the moment when, for instance, an elderly spider descends from a silken strand to take the insect he offers her is the heart of his appeal." —Julie Zickefoose, The Wall Street Journal
"Deep and insightful writing." —David Gessner, The Washington Post
Many heroes were made on 9/11 and in the weeks that followed. Not all of them showed human courage. Some of them could only show that they were truly man's best friend. German Shepherds, Labradors and Spaniels accounted for the majority of the four-legged heroes.
Over three hundred search and rescue dogs worked the pile at Ground Zero and the crash site at the Pentagon. For hours they searched, fighting off exhaustion with sheer determination and they continued every day long after the hope of finding survivors had passed.
There were faithful Guide dogs who helped their sightless owners out of the Twin Towers and led them to safety showed unstinting devotion in the face of adversity. And later, therapy dogs arrived to bring comfort to the bereaved and confused. At every stage of the operation, dogs were there helping humankind in various roles. And invaluably, they provided comfort and reassurance and lifted spirits by their pure presence.
Sadly many of the dogs are no longer with us but their achievements will never be forgotten. Isabel George was fortunate that the people close to the dogs were pleased to be asked to share their stories. This book is to honour the dogs and their people.
The remarkable story of James Howard "Billy" Williams, whose uncanny rapport with the world's largest land animals transformed him from a carefree young man into the charismatic war hero known as Elephant Bill
Billy Williams came to colonial Burma in 1920, fresh from service in World War I, to a job as a "forest man" for a British teak company. Mesmerized by the intelligence, character, and even humor of the great animals who hauled logs through the remote jungles, he became a gifted "elephant wallah." Increasingly skilled at treating their illnesses and injuries, he also championed more humane treatment for them, even establishing an elephant "school" and "hospital." In return, he said, the elephants made him a better man. The friendship of one magnificent tusker in particular, Bandoola, would be revelatory. In Elephant Company, Vicki Constantine Croke chronicles Williams's growing love for elephants as the animals provide him lessons in courage, trust, and gratitude.
But Elephant Company is also a tale of war and daring. When Imperial Japanese forces invaded Burma in 1942, Williams joined the elite Force 136, the British dirty tricks department, operating behind enemy lines. His war elephants would carry supplies, build bridges, and transport the sick and elderly over treacherous mountain terrain. Now well versed in the ways of the jungle, an older, wiser Williams even added to his stable by smuggling more elephants out of Japanese-held territory. As the occupying authorities put a price on his head, Williams and his elephants faced his most perilous test. In a Hollywood-worthy climax, Elephant Company, cornered by the enemy, attempted a desperate escape: a risky trek over the mountainous border to India, with a bedraggled group of refugees in tow. Elephant Bill's exploits would earn him top military honors and the praise of famed Field Marshal Sir William Slim.
Part biography, part war epic, and part wildlife adventure, Elephant Company is an inspirational narrative that illuminates a little-known chapter in the annals of wartime heroism.
Praise for Elephant Company
"This book is about far more than just the war, or even elephants. This is the story of friendship, loyalty and breathtaking bravery that transcends species. . . . Elephant Company is nothing less than a sweeping tale, masterfully written."—Sara Gruen, The New York Times Book Review
"Splendid . . . Blending biography, history, and wildlife biology, [Vicki Constantine] Croke's story is an often moving account of [Billy] Williams, who earned the sobriquet 'Elephant Bill,' and his unusual bond with the largest land mammals on earth."—The Boston Globe
"Some of the biggest heroes of World War II were even bigger than you thought. . . . You may never call the lion the king of the jungle again."—New York Post
"Elephant Company is as powerful and big-hearted as the animals of its title. Billy Williams is an extraordinary character, a real-life reverse Tarzan raised in civilization who finds wisdom and his true self living among jungle beasts. Vicki Constantine Croke delivers an exciting tale of this elephant whisperer–cum–war hero, while beautifully reminding us of the enduring bonds between animals and humans."—Mitchell Zuckoff, author of Lost in Shangri-La and Frozen in Time
From the Trade Paperback edition.
"My dogs and I get along best when I hit the birds they produce for me. Putting the odds in my favor is the least I can do. Now, so can you."
If you hunt for pheasants, grouse, quail, and other upland birds, forming a partnership with your dog can be a daunting challenge. Wingshooting USA's Scott Linden is here to help. What the Dogs Taught Me fills in the blanks for the wingshooter and dog owner with solid advice that will improve dog and hunter's levels of communication, respect, and hunting efficiency.
With lessons on dogs' desires, skills, and abilities to learn, care and feeding, health and safety, preparation, and shooting, What the Dogs Taught Me is the ultimate guide to maximizing happiness and minimizing frustration whether out on the hunt or relaxing in the backyard. Even better, Linden's lovable, often hilarious tone makes taking advice on training, strategizing, and partnership enjoyable to human and canine alike.
Don't be a student at the school of hard knocks—What the Dogs Taught Me advances an upland hunter's skills quickly, creatively, and without any of the angst of more difficult methods.
75 color photographs
As wolf populations have rebounded, scientific studies of them have also flourished. But there hasn't been a systematic, comprehensive overview of wolf biology since 1970. In Wolves, many of the world's leading wolf experts provide state-of-the-art coverage of just about everything you could want to know about these fascinating creatures. Individual chapters cover wolf social ecology, behavior, communication, feeding habits and hunting techniques, population dynamics, physiology and pathology, molecular genetics, evolution and taxonomy, interactions with nonhuman animals such as bears and coyotes, reintroduction, interactions with humans, and conservation and recovery efforts. The book discusses both gray and red wolves in detail and includes information about wolves around the world, from the United States and Canada to Italy, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Israel, India, and Mongolia. Wolves is also extensively illustrated with black and white photos, line drawings, maps, and fifty color plates.
Unrivalled in scope and comprehensiveness, Wolves will become the definitive resource on these extraordinary animals for scientists and amateurs alike.
"An excellent compilation of current knowledge, with contributions from all the main players in wolf research. . . . It is designed for a wide readership, and certainly the language and style will appeal to both scientists and lucophiles alike. . . . This is an excellent summary of current knowledge and will remain the standard reference work for a long time to come."—Stephen Harris, New Scientist
"This is the place to find almost any fact you want about wolves."—Stephen Mills, BBC Wildlife Magazine
A thoroughbred horse, Warrior, is passed through various owners before he is shipped to the thick of the action on the Western Front to serve as his current master's mount for all four years of the First World War.
Warrior and General 'Galloping Jack Seeley' were involved from the first engagements through to one of the last, the Battle of Moreuil Wood. Together they fought in terrifying battles and witnessed the death of many horses and masters who served alongside them, terrible deaths, but through it all Warrior seemed to pass like a spirit.
This is the tale of his heroic wartime exploits and eventual return to the green fields of England. An evocative and powerful story of a real and great war horse.
Warrior's story was the basis for the fictional Joey in Michael Morpurgo's War Horse.
Animals Make Us Human is the culmination of almost thirty years of research, experimentation, and experience. This is essential reading for anyone who's ever owned, cared for, or simply cared about an animal.
This edition includes a new 30-Day Training Guide to further incorporate Jan's powerful method into every element of pet ownership, including:Understanding what it means to care for a dogChoosing the right dog for youIntroducing your dog to its new homeOvercoming separation anxietyWalking on a leashDealing with behavioral problemsGrooming And much more
Backyard Farming: Raising Goats is the perfect guide for beginners thinkingabout including goats to their sustainable homestead. Covering every topic from selecting and maintaining a breed, to the tools and space you'll need, to all the wonderful benefits that owning goats can provide, Backyard Farming: Raising Goats includes all that you need to know to get the most out of your new herd. Including time-tested tips and tricks used by expert farmers, this invaluable resource is a must-have for anyone looking to raise goats at home!
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO GET STARTED. Covering topics from selecting the perfect breed for your space and time requirements, to milking and culling your herd, to preparing for and raising the next generation of kids, Backyard Farming: Raising Goats is the all-in-one guide for the aspiring home goatherd.
EASY TO FOLLOW, EASY TO UNDERSTAND. Written in simple, informative language, complete with numerous illustrations of proper techniques and housing set-ups, Backyard Farming: Raising Goats is written with first-time goatherds in mind.
A GREAT ADDITION TO ANY BACKYARD FARM. The benefits of owning goats range widely: goat's milk, meat, even goat hair has its uses and markets. Easier to care for than sheep and lots of fun besides, Backyard Farming: Raising Goats is the perfect first step to adding livestock to your farming experience!
The Backyard Farming series offers easy-to-use guides to help first-time farmers and homesteaders experience the satisfaction that comes from producing their own
food. Rural areas with acres of land, suburban neighborhoods with small backyards, or urban environments with limited space--no matter what your situation, these books are tailored to your unique needs and resources. Each volume in this series is dedicated to a particular topic in backyard farming, whether you're planning to grow food for your family or for sale at your local farmers market. Featuring simple instructions and helpful illustrations, the Backyard Farming series empowers you and your family to enjoy the freshest ingredients possible--direct from your own backyard!
I have lived in Schuyler County all my life, I have had a lot of things happen in my sixty-nine years. I have been run off the road by other drivers, also did things that people go to jail for today. I also coon hunted from the time I was able to. I been lost many a night, ran out of gas on the river with other hunters, but it never stopped us from going again the next night. When buying furs some people did not know one amimal from another, as you will read in on of my friends story, who was also a fur buyer. If you have hunted at all you will enjoy this book and will even bring some of your own memories alive.
In more than thirty essays, Social Creatures examines the role of animals in human society. Collected from a wide range of periodicals and books, these important works of scholarship examine such issues as how animal shelter workers view the pets in their care, why some people hoard animals, animals and women who experience domestic abuse, philosophical and feminist analyses of our moral obligations toward animals, and many other topics.
Social Creatures includes work by Peter Singer, Tom Regan, Carol J. Adams, Josephine Donovan, Barbara Noske, Arnold Arluke, Ken Shapiro, and many leading scholars, anthropologists, and psychologists. The book also comes with an extensive bibliography of hundreds of articles and books.
Casting his expert eye over the rapidly diminishing areas of wilderness where predators still reign, the award-winning author of The Song of the Dodo examines the fate of lions in India's Gir forest, of saltwater crocodiles in northern Australia, of brown bears in the mountains of Romania, and of Siberian tigers in the Russian Far East. In the poignant and troublesome ferocity of these embattled creatures, we recognize something primeval deep within us, something in danger of vanishing forever.
Storlie has been studying and practicing spiritual teachings for the past twenty years and partners with nature in order to teach others how to meditate, bond with their inner selves, and find balance in a busy and often chaotic world. As she shares twelve totem animal stories that illustrate each animals characteristics and area of influence, she encourages others to begin connecting with the power animals that protect, guide, and communicate wisdom through our own hearts and souls.
Animal Totem Guides: Messages for the World provides guidance and wisdom for anyone interesting in walking a new spiritual pathway beside power animals who, through their gifts of strength and illumination, will not only help us heal ourselves, but also our beautiful Earth.
Packed with beautiful, breathtaking full-color photographs, Unlikely Loves is a celebration of love between species. Here are stories of parental love, like the Dalmatian who mothers a newborn lamb—a lamb that just happens to be white with black spots! Stories of playful love, including the fox and the hound who become inseparable. And stories of orphaned animals who have found family-like ties in unexpected combinations, like the elephant who's bonded with sea lions, goats, and other animals in her walks around the Oregon Zoo.
Ms. Holland has interviewed scientists, zoologists, and animal caretakers from around the world, tracking down firsthand sources and eyewitnesses. The stories are written with journalistic integrity and detail—and always filled with the author's deep affection for her subjects.
Exploring the natural history of these animals, the Coppingers explain how the village dogs of Vietnam, India, Africa, and Mexico are strikingly similar. These feral dogs, argue the Coppingers, are in fact the truly archetypal dogs, nearly uniform in size and shape and incredibly self-sufficient. Drawing on nearly five decades of research, they show how dogs actually domesticated themselves in order to become such efficient scavengers of human refuse. The Coppingers also examine the behavioral characteristics that enable dogs to live successfully and to reproduce, unconstrained by humans, in environments that we ordinarily do not think of as dog friendly.
Providing a fascinating exploration of what it actually means—genetically and behaviorally—to be a dog, What Is a Dog? will undoubtedly change the way any beagle or bulldog owner will reflect on their four-legged friend.
Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation is a unique guidebook to sex. It reveals, for example, when necrophilia is acceptable and who should commit bestiality with whom. It discloses the best time to have a sex change, how to have a virgin birth, and when to eat your lover. It also advises on more mundane matters -- such as male pregnancy and the joys of a detachable penis.
Entertaining, funny, and marvelously illuminating, the book comprises letters from all creatures worried about their bizarre sex lives to the wise Dr. Tatiana (a.k.a. Olivia Judson), the only sex columnist in creation with a prodigious knowledge of evolutionary biology. Fusing natural history with advice to the lovelorn, blending wit and rigor, she is able to reassure her anxious correspondents that although the acts they describe might sound appalling and unnatural, they are all perfectly normal -- so long as you are not a human. In the process, she explains the science behind it all, from Darwin's theory of sexual selection to why sexual reproduction exists at all. Applying human standards to the natural world, in the end she reveals the wonders of both.
"Delightful . . . Easy to understand and hard to resist, it's sex education at its prime -- accurate, comprehensive, and hilarious." -- Newsweek
• Based on an award-winning blog: The Daily Coyote was inspired by Stockton's blog of the same name. Wildly popular and hailed by Rosie O'Donnell, Vanity Fair , and the L.A. Times , the site receives over a million hits per month and was the winner of the 2007 Weblog of the Year Award only a month after its inception. .
• A moving visual memoir: Stockton documents Charlie's first year in stunning full-color photography. Each month's entry is accompanied by rich images of Charlie as he grows from adorable pup to wily adult, alongside Stockton's tomcat, Eli, and set against the wide-open landscapes of Wyoming. .
Bringing animals, habitats, and up-to-date research to life for readers around the world, Animal explores the creatures that have fascinated and inspired humans for years, from intrepid Emperor penguins to fierce Siberian tigers, to the very intelligent and highly communicative humpback whale. This updated edition introduces the olinguito, the adorable, recently discovered mammal that looks like a cross between a cat and a teddy bear, and the Skywalker gibbon found in the tropical forests of Yunnan Province in southwest China and Myanmar. Perfect for gift-giving.
Produced in association with the Smithsonian Institution.
Costello's son, a physics professor, admires her literary achievements, but dreads his mother's lecturing on animal rights at the college where he teaches. His colleagues resist her argument that human reason is overrated and that the inability to reason does not diminish the value of life; his wife denounces his mother's vegetarianism as a form of moral superiority.
At the dinner that follows her first lecture, the guests confront Costello with a range of sympathetic and skeptical reactions to issues of animal rights, touching on broad philosophical, anthropological, and religious perspectives. Painfully for her son, Elizabeth Costello seems offensive and flaky, but—dare he admit it?—strangely on target.
In this landmark book, Nobel Prize–winning writer J. M. Coetzee uses fiction to present a powerfully moving discussion of animal rights in all their complexity. He draws us into Elizabeth Costello's own sense of mortality, her compassion for animals, and her alienation from humans, even from her own family. In his fable, presented as a Tanner Lecture sponsored by the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University, Coetzee immerses us in a drama reflecting the real-life situation at hand: a writer delivering a lecture on an emotionally charged issue at a prestigious university. Literature, philosophy, performance, and deep human conviction—Coetzee brings all these elements into play.
As in the story of Elizabeth Costello, the Tanner Lecture is followed by responses treating the reader to a variety of perspectives, delivered by leading thinkers in different fields. Coetzee's text is accompanied by an introduction by political philosopher Amy Gutmann and responsive essays by religion scholar Wendy Doniger, primatologist Barbara Smuts, literary theorist Marjorie Garber, and moral philosopher Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation. Together the lecture-fable and the essays explore the palpable social consequences of uncompromising moral conflict and confrontation.
Journeying first to the Australian mainland and then south to the wild island of Tasmania, these young naturalists brave a series of bizarre misadventures and uproarious wildlife encounters in their obsessive search for the long-lost beast.
From an ancient cave featuring an aboriginal painting of the tiger to a lab in Sydney where maverick scientists are trying to resurrect the animal through cloning, this intrepid trio comes face-to-face with blood-sucking land leeches and venomous bull ants, a misbehaving wallaby who invades their motel room, and a crew of flesh-eating, bone-crunching Tasmanian devils gorging on roadkill.
They bond with trappers, bushwackers, and wildlife experts who refuse to abandon the tiger hunt, despite the paucity of evidence. Sifting through local myths, bar-room banter, and historical accounts, these environmental detectives sweep readers into a world where platypus' swim, kangaroos roam, and a large predator with a pouch was–or perhaps still is–queen of the jungle.
Filled with Alexis Rockman's stunning drawings of flora and fauna–-made from soil, wombat scat, and the artist's own blood–Carnivorous Nights is a hip and hilarious account of an unhinged safari, as well as a fascinating portrayal of a wildly unique part of the world.
From the Hardcover edition.
Gene Baur, the cofounder and president of Farm Sanctuary, the nation's leading farm animal protection organization, knows that the key to happiness lies in aligning your beliefs with your actions. In this definitive vegan and animal-friendly lifestyle guide, he and Gene Stone, author of Forks Over Knives, explore the deeply transformative experience of visiting the sanctuary and its profound effects on people's lives. The book covers the basic tenets of Farm Sanctuary life—such as eating in harmony with your values, connecting with nature wherever you are, and reducing stress—and offers readers simple ways to incorporate these principles into their lives.
Living the Farm Sanctuary Life also teaches readers how to cook and eat the Farm Sanctuary way, with 100 extraordinarily delicious recipes selected by some of the organization's greatest fans—chefs and celebrities such as Chef AJ, Chloe Coscarelli, Emily Deschanel, and Moby.
Coupled with heartwarming stories of the animals that Farm Sanctuary has saved over the years, as well as advice and ideas from some of the organization's biggest supporters, Living the Farm Sanctuary Life is an inspiring, practical book for readers looking to improve their whole lives and the lives of those around them—both two- and four-legged.
The Hobby Farms livestock care manuals will help both experienced and novice hobby farmers realize their own dreams of life on the farm - for pleasure and profit.
As she demonstrated in The Gift of the Deer—a book greatly loved and praised—Mrs. Hoover has the gift of sharing with her readers her own profound feeling for the wilderness she has made her home and for the wild animals whom she makes her friends, without destroying the integrity of their wild lives.
But she was not always so at ease with nature. And she tells here how she and her husband, leaving behind everything that was familiar to them, bridged the infinite distance in life-style from Chicago, where they had lived, to a cabin home on the fringe of Minnesota's northernmost wilderness.
Neither of them had so much as a Cub Scout's experience of the woods, and their first year was punctuated with near-disasters. They quickly discovered that a long-time desire for the simple Thoreauvian life was not enough. The obstinance of inanimate objects—the crumbling stone foundation, the leaky roof, the unruly double-bitted ax that must be mastered when you depend on a woodburning stove at thirty below—was new to them. The changing seasons astonished the not only with surprising loveliness but with unexpected crises of survival. But they managed, despite their trials, to rebuild their primitive cabin. And, as they worked and learned, they built for themselves, little by little, a rewarding relationship not only with the sparsely settled community but with a marvelous succession of their closest neighbors: wild weasels and jays, squirrels and shy fishers, even bears in the basement.
The reader experiences it all, the hardships and joys, the gradual feeling of becoming connected to earth and elements, of belonging. The is the special delight of Helen Hoover's warm, evocative, and sometimes extremely funny account of the way in which two city people made for themselves A Place in the Woods.
There were dogs involved with the landings, dogs the soldiers could not bear to leave behind and dogs trained to patrol, protect and locate. The dogs sailed with the Merchant Navy and brought their boats into dangerous waters to retrieve the wounded or stranded. They were on land, in the air and on the water during the D-Day operation – playing their special part in every aspect.
Through this inspiring short collection of the true stories of four of these canine heroes the remarkable achievements of the D-Day dogs are brought to life.
Join the Backyard Farming Movement and Turn Your Home into a Homestead!
Pigs are easily among the smartest and sweetest animals you can include on your farm or homestead. Occasionally challenging and always rewarding, pigs are intelligent animals and make for a great addition to any backyard farmer's livestock.
Whether you plan to raise a single hog or a full litter of piglets, Backyard Farming: Raising Pigs is your expert guide to successfully keeping and caring for these animals. Raising Pigs covers a wide range of ownership and care issues, from selecting the right breeds and numbers for your wants and needs, housing and feeding requirements, breeding and raising piglets, and keeping your animals happy and healthy.
With Raising Pigs, you will:
• Learn to understand and appreciate these essential livestock investments
• Build efficient housing for your pigs to minimize your workload
• Learn to identify and treat a number of ailments and illnesses common to pigs
• Learn proper slaughtering techniques for your animals and prepare them for sale or personal use
• Discover a variety of delicious recipes using meat from your own farm
...and many more tips to help you achieve success.
More than ever, people everywhere are making a return to the farming lifestyle. Backyard Farming is your source for knowledge. Join the growing movement of homesteaders looking for a healthier, happier way of life—it starts right in your very own backyard.
Backyard Farming is a series of easy-to-use guides to help urban, suburban, and rural dwellers turn their homes into homesteads. Whether planning to grow food for the family or for sale at the local farmers market, Backyard Farming provides simple instruction and essential information in a convenient reference.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Over almost four years, Terrill and Inyo's adventures veer between hilarious and heartbreaking. There are peaceful weekends spent hiking in snowy foothills, mirthful romps through dirty laundry, joyful adoptions of dog companions, and clashes brought on by the stress of caring for Inyo, insatiable without the stimulation of a life lived outdoors. Forced to move and accommodate the complaints of fearful neighbors and the desires of her space-craving wolfdog, Terrill must confront the reality of what she has done by trying to tame a part-wild animal.
Driven to understand the differences between dogs and wolves, Terrill spent five years interviewing genetics experts, wolf biologists, dog trainers, and wolf rescuers in the United States, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, and Russia. The fascinating results of her investigation make Part Wild as informative as it is moving.
A gifted writer able to capture the grace and power of the natural world, the complexity of scientific ideas, and the pulse of the human experience, Terrill has written a bittersweet memoir of the beauty and tragedy that come from living with a measure of wildness.
Amanda Owen has been seen by millions on ITV's The Dales, living a life that has almost gone in today's modern world, a life ruled by the seasons and her animals. She is a farmer's wife and shepherdess, living alongside her husband Clive and seven children at Ravenseat, a 2000 acre sheep hill farm at the head of Swaledale in North Yorkshire. It's a challenging life but one she loves.
In The Yorkshire Shepherdess she describes how the rebellious girl from Huddersfield, who always wanted to be a shepherdess, achieved her dreams. Full of amusing anecdotes and unforgettable characters, the book takes us from fitting in with the locals to fitting in motherhood, from the demands of the livestock to the demands of raising a large family in such a rural backwater. Amanda also evokes the peace of winter, when they can be cut off by snow without electricity or running water, the happiness of spring and the lambing season, and the backbreaking tasks of summertime – haymaking and sheepshearing – inspiring us all to look at the countryside and those who work there with new appreciation.
The book offers advice on housing these very adaptable birds that thrive in various climates and regions throughout the world: space requirements, ventilation, flooring, feeders, and fencing. Naturally, ducks need water to thrive in the form of an existing lake, a manmade pond or simple duck pools, all discussed in the housing chapter. "The Duck Diet" chapter discusses the nutritional needs of the flock and various feeding options farmers and ranchers can consider. Seasoned duck aficionados interested in getting into the business of ducklings will find much information in the breeding chapter, which catalogs methods for hatching, incubators, mama duck and baby care, and more. The health of livestock is always a major consideration for the hobby farmer, and the chapter "Flock Health and Handling" offers a mini course in disease prevention, proper hygiene, recognizing symptoms of illnesses, and dealing with common maladies.
The advantages of duck farming—the superior quality of duck eggs, down, and meat--are the focal point of the final chapter "Harvesting the Rewards," likely the first chapter the dubious duck farmer will read prior to taking the dive into ducks. The book concludes with appendices of endangered duck breeds and duck diseases, resources, a glossary of terms, and a complete index.
Here Richard Rhodes vividly depicts Audubon's life and career: his epic wanderings; his quest to portray birds in a lifelike way; his long, anguished separations from his adored wife; his ambivalent witness to the vanishing of the wilderness. John James Audubon: The Making of an American is a magnificent achievement.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Carefully arranged into six major divisions (quadrupeds, snakes, mollusks and crustaceans, fish, birds, and insects), approximately 1,300 copyright-free images include realistic and fanciful portrayals of a varied array of real animals, in addition to such imaginary creatures as unicorns, dragons, basilisks, harpies, griffins, and other mythical beasts. Identifying captions in Latin accompany many of the illustrations.
Commercial artists, illustrators, and craftspeople will find a host of uses for these lovingly detailed engravings: as book and magazine illustrations and as attention-getting graphics ideal for enhancing flyers, brochures, newsletters, and any number of other print projects. Art lovers and antiquarians ― anyone with an interest in the art and ideas of an earlier era ― will enjoy browsing through these wonderful antique images.
Over twenty different animals are profiled, including the New World Moose, American Elk, and Whitetailed Deer. Each section goes into fine detail, including the habitat and range; foods; mating and seasonal habits; tracks; scat (feces); signs; and vocalizations of the animals. Plus there are detailed sections on tracking and stalking techniques such as cold hunting, camouflage, and using the stump method. In addition to all of this, the book is rife with full gorgeous full color photographs, illustrating each point. For anyone looking to up their hunting game, for anyone that is interested in nature and all its majesty The Tracker's Handbook is a must have.
Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for hunters and firearms enthusiasts. We publish books about shotguns, rifles, handguns, target shooting, gun collecting, self-defense, archery, ammunition, knives, gunsmithing, gun repair, and wilderness survival. We publish books on deer hunting, big game hunting, small game hunting, wing shooting, turkey hunting, deer stands, duck blinds, bowhunting, wing shooting, hunting dogs, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
In the revised and expanded second edition of The Natural Superiority of Mules, ranch owner and operator John Hauer celebrates these remarkable hybrids through essays, articles, stories, and beautiful, full-color photographs and illustrations.
The pieces in this collection draw attention to many of the mule's most impressive characteristics, including its agility, strength, grace, longevity, disposition, conformation, and loyalty.
Contributors to this collection range from recognized professionals in the mule community to those members who have recently purchased their first mules. These experts and aficionados include:
Selections include Emily Dickinson's astute observations of her cat, Roger Caras' thoughts about the love a dog brings to a home, and a cat's rules for running a house. Readers will be delighted by Anne Porter's poem exalting a spring symphony of peepers and Rumi in praise of birds in flight. The section "Partings" includes Annie Dougherty's lovely poem "Time to Say Good-bye" and Lord Byron's epitaph to his dog. "Reflections" includes the words of St. Francis, Jane Goodall, and Chief Seattle, reminding us that we are all interconnected beings, and James Herriot and Walt Whitman honoring the humble dignity of all creatures.
Animal Blessings makes a wonderful gift for all animal lovers. This delightful volume is a charming companion that reminds us to be grateful for everything our pets and all the other animals of the world bring to our lives.