The Rhino with Glue-On Shoes: And Other Surprising True Stories of Zoo Vets and their Patients
from Delacorte Press
A moray eel diagnosed with anorexia…A herd of bison whose only hope is a crusading female doctor from Paris…A vet desperately trying to save an orphaned whale by unraveling the mystery of her mother’s death…This fascinating book offers a rare glimpse into the world of exotic animals and the doctors who care for them. Here pioneering zoological veterinarians—men and women on the cutting edge of a new medical frontier—tell real-life tales of daring procedures for patients weighing tons or ounces, treating symptoms ranging from broken bones to a broken heart, and life-and-death dramas that will forever change the way you think about wild animals and the bonds we share with them.
From a root canal on a three-thousand pound hippo to one doctor’s heartbreaking effort to save a critically ill lemur, here are acts of rescue, kindness, and cross-disciplinary cooperation between zoo vets and other top scientists. We meet highly trained specialists racing against time and circumstance to save the lives of some of the most exotic animals in the world. Shoes designed for racehorses help a rhinoceros with a debilitating foot disease. A kangaroo survives spinal surgery performed by a leading human doctor. These unforgettable stories capture the bonds that develop between vets and their animal patients, the ingenious measures many vets have tried, and the remarkable new insights modern medical technology is giving us into the physiology and behaviors of wild animals.
At once heart-quickening and clinically fascinating, the stories in this remarkable collection represent some of the most moving and unusual cases ever taken on by zoological vets. A chronicle of discovery, compassion, and cutting-edge medicine, The Rhino with Glue-on Shoes is must reading for animal lovers, science buffs, and anyone who loves a well-told tale.
Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior
by Temple Grandin
from Harvest Books
Why would a cow lick a tractor? Why are collies getting dumber? Why do dolphins sometimes kill for fun? How can a parrot learn to spell? How did wolves teach man to evolve? Temple Grandin draws upon a long, distinguished career as an animal scientist and her own experiences with autism to deliver an extraordinary message about how animals act, think, and feel. She has a perspective like that of no other expert in the field, which allows her to offer unparalleled observations and groundbreaking ideas.
People with autism can often think the way animals think, putting them in the perfect position to translate "animal talk." Grandin is a faithful guide into their world, exploring animal pain, fear, aggression, love, friendship, communication, learning, and, yes, even animal genius. The sweep of Animals in Translation is immense and will forever change the way we think about animals.
*includes a Behavior and Training Troubleshooting Guide
- argues that language is not a requirement for consciousness--and that animals do have consciousness
- applies the autism theory of "hyper-specificity" to animals, showing that animals and autistic people are so sensitive to detail that they "can't see the forest for the trees"--a talent as well as a "deficit"
- explores the "interpreter" in the normal human brain that filters out detail, leaving people blind to much of the reality that surrounds them--a reality animals and autistic people see, sometimes all too clearly
- explains how animals have "superhuman" skills: animals have animal genius
- compares animals to autistic savants, declaring that animals may in fact be autistic savants, with special forms of genius that normal people do not possess and sometimes cannot even see
- examines how humans and animals use their emotions to think, to decide, and even to predict the future
- reveals the remarkable abilities of handicapped people and animals
- maintains that the single worst thing you can do to an animal is to make it feel afraid
The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild
by Craig Childs
from Little, Brown and Company
From one of the finest nature writers at work in
Whether recalling the experience of being chased through the Grand Canyon by a bighorn sheep, swimming with sharks off the coast of British Columbia, watching a peregrine falcon perform acrobatic stunts at 200 miles per hour, or engaging in a tense face-off with a mountain lion near a desert waterhole, Craig Childs captures the moment so vividly that he puts the reader in his boots.
Each of the forty brief, compelling narratives in THE ANIMAL DIALOGUES focuses on the author's own encounter with a particular species and is replete with astonishing facts about the species' behavior, habitat, breeding, and lifespan. But the glory of each essay lies in Childs's ability to portray the sometimes brutal beauty of the wilderness, to capture the individual essence of wild creatures, to transport the reader beyond the human realm and deep inside the animal kingdom
Grayson
by Lynne Cox
from Harvest Books
In fact, it was a baby gray whale following alongside her. Lynne quickly realized that if she swam back to the pier, the young calf would follow her onto shore and die from collapsed lungs. On the other hand, if Lynne didn’t find the mother whale, the baby would suffer from dehydration and starve to death.
Something so enormous—the mother whale would be at least fifty feet long—suddenly seemed very small in the vast Pacific Ocean. How could Lynne possibly find her?
This is the story—part mystery, part magical tale—of what happened.
Dogs: Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History
by Xiaoming Wang
from Columbia University Press
Xiaoming Wang and Richard H. Tedford have spent the past 20 years studying the evolutionary history of the family Canidae. Both are well known for having established the modern framework for the evolutionary relationship of canids. Combining their research with Mauricio Antón's impeccable reconstructions of both extinct and extant species, Wang and Tedford present a remarkably detailed and nuanced portrait of the origin and evolution of canids over the past 40 million years.
The authors cull their history from the most recent scientific research conducted on the vast collections of the American Museum of Natural History and other leading institutions. The fossil record of the Canidae, particularly those from their birth place in North America, are the strongest of their kind among known groups of carnivorans. Such a wonderfully detailed evolutionary history provides access to a natural history that is not possible with many other groups of carnivorans.
With their rich fossil record, diverse adaptations to various environments, and different predatory specializations, canids are an ideal model organism for the mapping of predator behavior and morphological specializations. They also offer an excellent contrast to felids, which remain entrenched in extreme predatory specializations. The innovative illustrated approach in this book is the perfect accompaniment to an extremely important branch of animal and fossil study. It transforms the science of paleontology into a thrilling visual experience and provides an unprecedented reference for anyone fascinated by dogs.
Peterson Field Guide to Mammals of North America: Fourth Edition (Peterson Field Guides (R))
by Fiona Reid
from Houghton Mifflin
The Peterson Field Guide Series (R)
Sponsored by the National Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute
America's Best-Selling Field Guides
THE PETERSON IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM
Roger Tory Peterson's unique system shows exactly what features to look for to tell one species from another.
EASE OF USE
Peterson Field Guides are designed to work in the field, and every illustration, every word, is directed to that end.
THE AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS
For each Field Guide, an author with expertise in the subject and an experienced artist work closely with the editors to ensure that both text and illustrations are accurate.
A Field Guide to Mammals of North America
The most comprehensive, in-depth, and current guide to North American mammals, this book covers all the mammals found in North America north of Mexico, including those that live in near-shore waters. The only guide to include paintings and photographs of the animals as well as photographs of mammal skulls, it has 80 color plates, plus 46 additional color illustrations and black-and-white drawings, nearly 400 range maps, and more than 100 color photographs.
The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, and Primates
by Richard D. Estes
from Chelsea Green Publishing Company
Since its original publication in 1993, The Safari Companion has been the best field guide to observing and understanding the behavior of African mammals. An indispensable tool for naturalists traveling to Africa, this new edition has been revised to acknowledge the enthusiasm to those watching these magnificent animals at zoos and wildlife parks, and on film. The Safari Companion enables readers to recognize and interpret visible behavioral activities, such as courtship rituals, territorial marking, aggression, and care of young. Each account of over 80 species includes a behavioral table in which the unique actions of the hoofed mammals, carnivores, and primates are described for easy reference. In addition, useful maps show the major national boundaries, vegetation zones, and game parks relevant to the guide. The book includes an extensive glossary, as well as tips on wildlife photography, a list of organizations working to protect African wildlife, and advice on where and when to see the animals.
Meerkat Manor: Flower of the Kalahari
by Tim Clutton-Brock
from Touchstone
Written by the Cambridge professor who made them stars, Meerkat Manor is an exclusive, detailed look inside the lives of the Whiskers, the meerkat clan featured on the hit Animal Planet show.
Behind-the-scenes detail provided by expert author Tim Clutton-Brock sheds light on Flower's early years, her fight to rule the Whiskers, and her struggle to stay on top. With beautiful illustrations and a meerkat's-eye view of life in the Kalahari, Meerkat Manor also contains an easy-to-understand introduction to animal societies, meerkats, their predators and prey.
Like humans, meerkats can be cute, cuddly, affectionate, fearless, and amazingly unselfish; also like us, they can become vicious, vindictive, and even murderous within a split second. By explaining the lives of the Whiskers, Clutton-Brock shares his perspective on how the lives of all animals (including humans) are structured by the need both to compete and to cooperate.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals: (Revised and Expanded) (Audubon Society Field Guide)
by NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY
from Knopf
Consider the lynx, a medium-sized cat of boreal regions of North America, "a solitary animal, associated with the opposite sex only during mating." Consider the Oldfield mouse, Peromyscus polionotus, once abundant in abandoned fields and beaches from South Carolina to northern Florida. These are but two of the 390 species covered in this densely informative, well-illustrated guidebook to the mammals of North America, with photographs keyed to textual descriptions that cover a given animal's physical features, range and habitat, breeding characteristics, and behavior (and, helpfully, that list other animals with which it might be confused). This easy-to-use handbook makes a superb addition to any naturalist's library. --Gregory McNamee
From a stop-action photograph of the amazing flying squirrel to Big Horn Sheep perched on a rock face, this guide puts the world of mammals in your hands. Illustrated with more than 300 full-color photographs, each species account includes information on physical characteristics, size, similar species, breeding, tracks and other signs, habitat, and range, as well as commentary on feeding, nesting, and other behaviors. Easy-to-read range maps, detailed anatomical illustrations of different mammals, track illustrations, and a state-by-state location guide make this the decisive authority on North American mammals.
Life in the Valley of Death: The Fight to Save Tigers in a Land of Guns, Gold, and Greed
by Alan Rabinowitz
from Island Press
Dubbed the Indiana Jones of wildlife science by The New York Times, Alan Rabinowitz has devoted—and risked—his life to protect nature’s great endangered mammals. He has journeyed to the remote corners of the earth in search of wild things, weathering treacherous terrain, plane crashes, and hostile governments. Life in the Valley of Death recounts his most ambitious and dangerous adventure yet: the creation of the world’s largest tiger preserve.
The tale is set in the lush Hukaung Valley of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. An escape route for refugees fleeing the Japanese army during World War II, this rugged stretch of land claimed the lives of thousands of children, women, and soldiers. Today it is home to one of the largest tiger populations outside of India—a population threatened by rampant poaching and the recent encroachment of gold prospectors.
To save the remaining tigers, Rabinowitz must navigate not only an unforgiving landscape, but the tangled web of politics in Myanmar. Faced with a military dictatorship, an insurgent army, tribes once infamous for taking the heads of their enemies, and villagers living on less than one U.S. dollar per day, the scientist and adventurer most comfortable with animals is thrust into a diplomatic minefield. As he works to balance the interests of disparate factions and endangered wildlife, his own life is threatened by an incurable disease.
The resulting story is one of destruction and loss, but also renewal. In forests reviled as the valley of death, Rabinowitz finds new life for himself, for communities haunted by poverty and violence, and for the tigers he vowed to protect.
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