Only a few species of wild animals can survive its harsh climate. In this modern classic, Barry Lopez explores the many-faceted wonders of the Far North: its strangely stunted forest, its mesmerizing aurora borealis, its frozen seas. Musk oxen, polar bears, narwhal, and other exotic beasts of the region come alive through Lopez’s passionate and nuanced observations. And, as he examines the history and culture of the indigenous people, along with parallel narratives of intrepid, often underprepared and subsequently doomed polar explorers, Lopez drives to the heart of why the austere and formidable Arctic is also a constant source of breathtaking beauty, beguilement, and wonder.Written in prose as memorably pure as the land it describes, Arctic Dreams is a timeless mediation on the ability of the landscape to shape our dreams and to haunt our imaginations.

    The author explodes the old orthodoxies and gives us a convincing picture of how dinosaurs hunted, fed, mated, fought and died.Containing over 200 detailed illustrations, The Great Dinosaur Debate will enthrall "dinosaurmaniacs". It is a bold new look at the extraordinary reign and eventual extinction of the awesome behemoths who ruled the earth for 150 million years.

    Within two years, he had succeeded. In Jaguar he provides the only first-hand account of a scientist's experience with jaguars in the wild. Jaguar presents an irresistible blend of natural history and adventure; intensely personal, it is a portrait of an elusive, solitary predator and the Mayas with which it shares the jungle. Strong and sensitive, the book excitingly describes the rewards and hardships of fighting to protect this almost mythical cat." - George Schaller, author of The Last Panda and Wildlife of the Tibetan Stepp. The glimpse which Rabinowitz's painstaking and careful research gives us of the world of the mysterious jaguar is tantalizing ....... Packed with interest and adventure." - Jane Goodall, author of Reason for Hope and In the Shadow of Ma. "An intimate look at the lives of rural Central Americans. At times Rabinowitz resembles a character from Joseph Conrad ... the tension between man and beast becomes startlingly vivid." - The Washington Pos. "A jungle adventure story in the classic mold, of a daredevil westerner who penetrates the deepest jungles of Belize in search of his quarry. There are thrills and chills aplenty in this quest for the mighty feline." - Kirkus Review. Originally published in 1986, this edition includes a new preface and epilogue by the author that bring the story up to date with recent events in the region and around the world.

    From childhood he has lived in or near the Rockies, hiking, climbing and skiing; watching wildlife and enjoying wildflowers, wild places and wild weather. A desire to know more about the rock he climbed on led Ben to a degree in earth science. He is an independent interpretive guide in Jasper National Park and has written four other books.Ben carried the first edition of the Handbook everywhere in his pack, looking up things he couldn't remember and filling the margins of four copies with blooming times, animal sightings, ideas and corrections. He hopes that all of you with an interest in the Canadian Rockies will enjoy the updated information, new design and full color illustrations of this second edition of the handbook.Artist Matthew Wheeler did the 334 color pencil drawings of mammals, birds and butterflies. Matthew was first recognized for his art at the age of ten, when the Louvre exhibited his painting of children and farm animals watching a train pass by his family's Robson Valley, B.C. farm. Since then, and leading up to the brilliant work reproduced in the pages of this book, Matthew has refined and supported his art by reporting for a local newspaper, selling freelance photography and winning awards at art shows.

    There we find rocks of great age, fossils, dwellings of Stone Age peoples, and experience the land much as our ancestors did during all those untold generations in the dimly remembered world from which we somehow took flight.

    Lawrence, traveled to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to live among and observe a captive pack of untamed wolves. The result is an extraordinary look inside the society of a much-maligned, much-persecuted animal. HC: Henry Holt.From the Paperback edition.

    Written by former Natural History columnist Douglas Preston, who worked at the American Museum of Natural History for seven years, this is a celebration of the best-known and best-loved museum in the United States.

    Set in Oregon ...

    It contrasts the way we love some animals while ruthlessly exploiting others; it provides a detailed and fascinating account of ways in which animal companionship can influence our health; and it provides a key to understanding the moral contradictions inherent in our treatment of animals and nature. Its scope encompasses history, anthropology, and animal and human psychology. Along the way, the author uncovers a fascinating trail of insights and myths about our relationship with the species with which we share the planet. James Serpell is the editor of The Domestic Dog: Its Evolution, Behavior and Interactions With People (CUP, 1995).

    They are all drawn to scale, as are the humans included in each picture to show proportion. Creatures too big to be contained on double-page spreads are given expansive fold-out pages. . . . An excellent book, recommended for all small humans who like big beasts.--School Library Journal, starred review. Full-color illustrations.

    In Dune Boy, first published in 1943, he recounts these buccolic visits and his budding interest in the natural world around him. A loner, often bullied by other children, Teale escaped to the roof of the old house where he gazed at the golden dunes in the distance, and dreamed his own fantastic dreams.The young Teale was fascinated by moths, dragonflies, snakes, and the workings of the farm. He yearned to fly. He tried to hitch a calf to a cart, to ride a pig. He created a "museum" for his collections of arrowheads, stones, and fish skeletons. Most of all, he enjoyed his storytelling, hardworking grandfather, and his book-reading, equally hardworking grandmother. They reveled in and encouraged him. He returned to Lone Oak every summer until he was fifteen, when the old farm house caught fire and burned down.Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

    From the multitude of species that are safely edible, he has selected those that are actually attractive and appetizing as food. Beautiful colour photography shows each species growing in the wild - for accurate identification - and prepared as an appealing dish. Well-known wine and food writers such as Jane grigson, Katie Stewart and B.C.A. Turner are among those who have contributed the recipes that accompany Roger Phillips' photographs.

    Every cliff, inlet and headland reveals layers of myth and historical memory, and Robinson makes beautifully crafted observations about the habits of birds, plants and the humans who lived there and endured, leaving records in stone - on the walls, cairns and ancient forts - in story and in oral tradition.

    This book dispels many urban myths: that foxes will kill cats; that foxes live by rifling dustbins or that they will mate with your dog. Nor are they less healthy than rural foxes, and in fact they live slightly longer lives. They prefer Tory boroughs where large gardens and potting sheds afford them desirable residences. Some even commute into town to feed and back to the suburbs to sleep during the day. This second edition includes much new fascinating information on the social lives of foxes, their serial fathering of cubs and their social interactions. Sadly it also discusses mange, which has hit the famous Bristol fox populations particularly badly. But although this population is down to 10 per cent of previous levels, other cities (Blackpool, Norwich, York and others) have new fox populations.

    The introduction explains the scope of the book with a basic survey of classification, anatomy and life-cycles and the key is cross-referenced to the text to enable the reader to place any insect into its correct group. The insects are arranged scientifically, covering all orders found in Europe and all major families with illustrations covering the species most likely to be noticed for their size, colour, frequency or association with humans.

    Set in the Willapa Hills of southwest Washington, both people and forest are threatened with extinction. Timeless among the literature of the land, Wintergreen is now back in print with a new afterword by the author.

    

    It is without question the most important book on butterflies in several decades, and the most complete treatment of a major butterfly faun ever published.The book is written at several levels of detail, most of it accessible to anyone, and employs the minimum of technical terms necessary for ensuring scientific accuracy. Extensive introductory material—a book in itself—stresses butterfly biology and ecology: structure, flight, metamorphosis, hibernation, physiology, roosting, migration, mating, egg laying, intelligence, social behavior, larval and adult foods, enemies, mimicry, variation, evolution, habitats, distribution, and conservation. The main text is arranged in phylogenetic sequence, and characteristics or behavior common to all members of a family, subfamily, or tribe are discussed at those levels. The skippers, a large group often excluded, are treated in full.Several unique features make identification easier and more certain than with any other field guide. First, every species (and many subspecies) of butterfly ever recorded north of Mexico (or in Bermuda or Hawaii) is treated at length and illustrated in color. Over 1,800 butterflies representing all 679 species (males, females, uppersides, undersides, subspecies, etc.) are illustrated on 42 full-page plats. Another 136 color photographs illustrate the various life forms in natural habitat: eggs, larvae, pupae, and the more familiar and more spectacular adults.The author also provides a catalogue listing all known host plant genera and the specific butterfly larvae that eat them; techniques for collecting, raising, and studying butterflies; bibliographies of the most useful plant books and other sources to further the study of butterflies; and an index of all common and scientific butterfly names and all technical terms taken up in the text.In short, this book is indispensable for pursuing a hobby or scientific interest in butterflies.

    David Henry recounts his years of field research on this flame-colored predator. With its catlike whiskers, teeth, and paws, as well as vertical-slit pupils, the North American red fox not only resembles but often behaves like a feline, especially when hunting. Probing the reasons for these similarities, Henry reveals the behavior and ecology of a species that thrives from the edge of suburbia to the cold northern tundra.

    The introductory section finishes with information for gardeners, detailing which plants to grow and when. Each section is illustrated with diagrams and photographs. There then follows an illustrated key to the main family groups, detailing principal physical and flight characteristics, as well as other key information to aid identification. The next section consists of 60 specific species descriptions. These comprise detailed identification notes for both adult and young stages, information on life cycle, habitat and behaviour, and distribution and status - all accompanied by life-cycle artwork and time charts, a distribution map and a large colour photograph.Finishing with photographs and information on the most common day-flying moths, Philip's Guide to Butterflies of Britain and Ireland is an essential guide for both experienced naturalists and newcomers to the subject.

    Reiger's work has been hailed as an authoritative look at these early conservationists; now his landmark book is available in an expanded edition that broadens its historic sweep.

    Jay M. Savage has studied these fascinating creatures for more than forty years, and in The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica he provides the most comprehensive, up-to-date treatment of their biology and evolution ever produced.Savage begins with detailed discussions of the natural and cultural history of Costa Rica, setting the stage for a detailed treatment of each of the 396 species of amphibians and reptiles that may be found there. Each species account synthesizes and analyzes everything that is known about the animal's anatomy, behavior, geographic distribution, systematics, and evolutionary history and provides keys for identifying amphibians and reptiles in the field. In addition to distribution maps and systematic and morphological illustrations, the book includes color photographs of almost every known species, many taken by the distinguished nature photographers Michael and Patricia Fogden.Because Costa Rica has played, and continues to play, a pivotal role in the study of tropical biology as well as in the development of ecotourism and ecoprospecting, and because more than half of the amphibians and reptiles in Costa Rica are also found elsewhere in Central America, The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica will be an essential book for a wide audience of nature lovers, naturalists, ecotourists, field biologists, conservationists, and government planners.