A gripping story of adventure and a modern-day Walden, this contemporary classic established Fromm as one of the West's premier voices.

    Aspirin, the world's most widely used drug, is based on compounds originally extracted from the bark of a willow tree, and more than a quarter of medicines found on pharmacy shelves contain plant compounds. Now Western medicine, faced with health crises such as AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer, has begun to look to the healing plants used by indigenous peoples to develop powerful new medicines. Nowhere is the search more promising than in the Amazon, the world's largest tropical forest, home to a quarter of all botanical species on this planet—as well as hundreds of Indian tribes whose medicinal plants have never been studied by Western scientists. In Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice, ethnobotanist Mark J. Plotkin recounts his travels and studies with some of the most powerful Amazonian shamans, who taught him the plant lore their tribes have spent thousands of years gleaning from the rain forest.For more than a decade, Dr. Plotkin has raced against time to harvest and record new plants before the rain forests' fragile ecosystems succumb to overdevelopment—and before the Indians abandon their own culture and learning for the seductive appeal of Western material culture. Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice relates nine of the author's quests, taking the reader along on a wild odyssey as he participates in healing rituals; discovers the secret of curare, the lethal arrow poison that kills in minutes; tries the hallucinogenic snuff epena that enables the Indians to speak with their spirit world; and earns the respect and fellowship of the mysterious shamans as he proves that he shares both their endurance and their reverence for the rain forest. Mark Plotkin combines the Darwinian spirit of the great writer-explorers of the nineteenth century—curious, discursive, and rigorously scientific—with a very modern concern for the erosion of our environment and the vanishing culture of native peoples.

    Though written in a simple language, they manage to create vivid imagery and capture the essence of mountain life. Some of his writings that are featured in the book are Once Upon A Mountain Time, Sounds I Like To Hear, How Far Is The River, and After The Monsoon.Rain In The Mountains: Notes From The Himalayas covers the everyday life of the author with descriptive words and lucid writing.CONTENTSSECTION I - ONCE UPON A MOUNTAIN TIMEOnce Upon A Mountain TimeVoting at BarlowganjMiss Bun and OthersA Station for ScandalIt Must be the Mountains (Play)SECTION II - MOUNTAINS IN MY BLOODHow Far is the RiverFour Boys on a GlacierGrowing up with TreesMountains in my BloodA Mountain StreamA Lime Tree in the HillsA New FlowerThe Joy of FlowerSounds I like to HearDragon in the TunnelHill of the FairiesThe Open RoadThese I Have LovedA Dream of GardensA Sweet SavourGreat Trees I Have KnownPicninc at Fox-BurnA Wayside TeashopAll About my WalkaboutsGreat Spirits of the TreesBirdsong in the MountainsMeetings on the Tehri RoadGuests who Fly in from the ForestUp at Sisters BazaarSECTION III - NOTES BY THE WAYSIDESECTION IV - MOUNTAINS ARE KIND TO WRITERSIn Search of a Winter GardenThe Old LamaThe Night Roof Blew OffMountains are Kind to WritersBest of All WindowsA Knock at the DoorSounds of the SeaAll My Writing DaysThe Trail to the BankWhere the Grass Grows GreenerBetter to Have a Bird in a BushCoaxing a Garden from Himalyan SoilWhere Rivers MeetAfter the MonsoonThe Road to Anjani SainSECTION V - TIME TO CLOSE THE WINDOWEpilogue

    he was an invaluable teacher, one without limits or time, one whose world was an eternity, and whose riches were defined in the beauty of nature. The true identity of Brown's teacher is one of the many great mysteries which unfold in this tribute to the eternal spirit in everyone.

    This edition is out of print, and is being replaced by the fourth edition, retail price 18.95, ISBN 0981570178

    In a sequel to White Wolf, award-winning nature photographer Jim Brandenburg's powerful narrative--and 140 color photos of timber wolves in their natural habitat--will revolutionize our thinking about wolves, human nature, our primeval past, and the survival of our planet.

    Gathers previously unpublished color photographs of the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, Mount McKinley, Mono Lake, Death Valley, and White Sands National Monument.

    A concise atlas of anatomy, it contains more than 200 specially prepared accurate and clear drawings that include material never illustrated before. The text is as informative as the drawings; written at a level appropriate to undergraduate students and to bird lovers in general, it discusses why birds look and act the way they do.Designed to supplement a basic ornithology textbook, the Manual of Ornithology covers systematics and evolution, topography, feathers and flight, the skeleton and musculature, and the digestive, circulatory, respiratory, excretory, reproductive, sensory, and nervous systems of birds, as well as field techniques for watching and studying birds. Each chapter concludes with a list of key references for the topic covered, with a comprehensive bibliography at the end of the volume. The book will be a guide and reference for every level of bird study—a basic tool for investigation for anyone curious about the fascinating world of birds.

    Wilson to describe what he believes is humanity's innate affinity for the natural world. In his landmark book Biophilia, he examined how our tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes might be a biologically based need, integral to our development as individuals and as a species. That idea has caught the imagination of diverse thinkers.The Biophilia Hypothesis brings together the views of some of the most creative scientists of our time, each attempting to amplify and refine the concept of biophilia. The variety of perspectives -- psychological, biological, cultural, symbolic, and aesthetic -- frame the theoretical issues by presenting empirical evidence that supports or refutes the hypothesis. Numerous examples illustrate the idea that biophilia and its converse, biophobia, have a genetic component:fear, and even full-blown phobias of snakes and spiders are quick to develop with very little negative reinforcement, while more threatening modern artifacts -- knives, guns, automobiles -- rarely elicit such a responsepeople find trees that are climbable and have a broad, umbrella-like canopy more attractive than trees without these characteristicspeople would rather look at water, green vegetation, or flowers than built structures of glass and concreteThe biophilia hypothesis, if substantiated, provides a powerful argument for the conservation of biological diversity. More important, it implies serious consequences for our well-being as society becomes further estranged from the natural world. Relentless environmental destruction could have a significant impact on our quality of life, not just materially but psychologically and even spiritually.

    When Stein realized what her intensive efforts at making a garden had done, she set out to "ungarden". Her book interweaves an account of her efforts with an explanation of the ecology of gardens. Illustrations.

    More than 400 breathtaking color photographs. 140 maps and 107 illustrations and diagrams. Facts and background information about these wonders, including reports of explorers, geologists, and geographers. Special coverage of indigenous plants, animals and people. How natural forces shape the world.

    . . .They have a primal quality against their background of jungle hammock, moss-hung against the tremendous silence of the scrub country. The only ingredients of their lives are the elemental things."--Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, March 1930, in a letter to Alfred S. Dashiell of Scribner's Magazine Except for one extended black family and "one writer from up north," folks from Cross Creek were ornery, independent Crackers, J. T. Glisson writes in this memoir of growing up in the backwoods of north-central Florida. The time spanned the late twenties to the early fifties, and isolation and an abundance of mosquitoes and snakes were their claim to fame. The writer was Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. In her 25 years at the Creek, Miz Rawlings was regarded as "That Woman"--warm, high-strung, and simply eccentric. She drove recklessly, smoked in public, and had "black spells." A Pulitzer Prize did little to change her status. In Cross Creek everyone had space to be a character and every character had a title: the meanest, laziest, most pregnant, or best cat fisherman. Describing day-to-day life in unaffected prose, Glisson's portraits include Charley, the fisherman who did his banking in a Prince Albert tobacco can nailed to a tree; Bernie Bass, who spoke "perfect Florida Cracker without polish"; Old Blue, young Jake Glisson's nuisance hog; Aunt Martha Mickens, the matriarch of all the blacks at the Creek (including Henry, the first critic to pass judgment on Jake's drawings); and especially Jake's father, Tom, the man whose wisdom, boundless optimism, and colorful speech figure prominently in Rawlings's Cross Creek. (Of his famous neighbor, Tom once commented that "when she gets her tail up above her head, her brain don't work.") Glisson's own finely detailed pencil and pen-and-ink drawings illustrate these vignettes, and he explains that the idea of earning his living as an artist first came to him when he saw Rawlings's books illustrated with such vivid pictures that he could smell the sawgrass, sweat, and gunpowder of the Creek. No wonder: One edition of The Yearling--the story of a deer and a boy Jake's own age--was illustrated by N. C. Wyeth, who visited Cross Creek and chatted about drawing ("it's a matter of seeing and practice") while eleven-year-old Jake watched him sketch. Tom Glisson died while his son was enrolled in art school in Sarasota; three years later Miz Rawlings died, and an era ended. Today J. T. Glisson lives four and a half miles from the house where he grew up. When there's a breeze from the south, he writes, he sits on his porch and listens to the soft rustling of palmetto fronds, almost embarrassed by the beauty of his memories. J. T. Glisson has been an illustrator, publisher, and businessman

    With superb color sky charts, diagrams, or photographs on almost every page, and clear and engaging writing, Stars and Planets is the most user-friendly and informative guide to the night sky. The product of more than twenty years' collaboration between one of the world's leading astronomy writers and the world's foremost celestial mapmaker, the new Stars and Planets features a slightly larger (but still compact) size, a more spacious and attractive design, and much new material, including more information on galaxies and star types. Simply put, Stars and Planets is indispensable. Don't leave home--at night--without it. Detailed charts covering all 88 constellations in the Northern and Southern hemispheres Data and notes on all bright stars and other objects of interest Detailed Moon maps and descriptions of the main lunar features Tips on choosing and using binoculars and telescopes, to suit any budget The only guide to provide annual planetary data as a downloadable Web resource

    You'll meet his assoicate, John Crooks; his partner, Siegfried; more of the farmers and village-dwellers who form his diverse (and sometimes rather eccentric) clientele; and more of his patients--the farm and domestic animals on which Dr. Herriot lavishes his affection, care and love.

    While he is transported back through the millennia, Poortvliet documents the wild animals habits and rituals.

    The trip left a lasting impression in a remarkable collection of sketches, postcards, and letters. This volume includes 80 full-color reproductions of Obata’s pencil sketches, watercolor paintings, and day-by-day narratives woven through his correspondences. Named one of the “Best Fifty books of 1993? by the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the book is a unique and beautiful presentation of personal artistic experience.

    Since that time, hundreds of new species have been identified and botanical investigation has become more sophisticated. Now Jepson's philosophy of making such information available to all is again realized in this new volume, which includes a wealth of material accumulated over the past decades.With contributions from two hundred botanists across North America, this is the most comprehensive resource and identification guide to nearly eight thousand varieties of native and naturalized California plants. The means to identify plants (using key traits and illustrations) is accompanied by special information such as horticultural requirements, endangerment, toxicity, weed status, and notes on the management of sensitive species. Identification keys have been designed for ease of use, and terms have been simplified and illustrated, making the new Manual the most authoritative field guide for the expert and amateur alike.

    Winner of the 1992 Benjamin Franklin Award for best "Regional" book, this title continues to be the definitive popular guide to California's most emblematic tree species.

    Now in a new volume of collected essays—his sixth since Ever Since Darwin—Gould speaks of the importance of unbroken connections within our own lives and to our ancestralgenerations. Along with way, he opens to us the mysteries of fish tails, frog calls, and other matters, and shows once and for all why we must take notice when a seemingly insignificant creature is threatened, like the land snail Partula from Moorea, whose extinction he movingly relates.—from the back cover

    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.

    Watson, the subject of Peter Matthiessen's best-selling Killing Mr. Watson, and Totch is featured in the recent award-winning PBS film Lost Man's River:  An Everglades Adventure with Peter Matthiessen.  He also appeared in Wind Across the Everglades, the 1957 Budd Schulberg movie in which Totch and Burl Ives sing some of Totch's  Florida cracker songs.Loren G. "Totch" Brown was born in Chokoloskee, Florida, in 1920.  After purchasing his first motorboat at the age of thirteen (and retiring from formal schooling after the seventh grade) he worked as an alligator hunter, commercial fisherman, crabber, professional guide, poacher, marijuana runner, singer, and songwriter.

    This book would be useful to students and practioners of herbalism, homeopathy, and flower essences, as the information can be utilized across these disciplines. The book clearly explains when and how to use these remedies and gives ample case studies from author's personal experience that further assist the reader in forming a clear picture of the signature of the herbs described.

    Included for each hike are directions for reaching the trailhead; a detailed route description; and information on the length of the hike, degree of difficulty, and trail conditions.

    To learn more about this formidable ocean dweller, the Cousteau team mounted a two-and-a-half year expedition to the south coast of Australia involving some 40 scientists, divers, cameramen, and sailors. This is the story, in words, photographs, and drawings, of the study and all that was learned from it about shark behaviour and biology. Myths and lore about the great white are dispelled, leaving an indelible image of a powerful predator of the seas.

    In Greenland, where Inuit haul harpoons on their dogsleds to hunt seals, Kerasote finds remnants of one of the planet's last hunter-gatherer peoples; they stalk their prey for subsistence, much as their ancestors did, despite their new love affair with VCRs. Then, in Siberia, newly opened to Western sportsmen, Kerasote accompanies trophy seekers, wealthy sportsmen intent on bagging record-sized snow sheep while engaged in questionable hunting practices. Finally, Kerasote recounts his own relationship with elks he shoots in Wyoming, the painful but albeit spiritual transaction that occurs when we consciously acknowledge the lives we take to feed us. These ethical paradoxes and moral dilemmas make Bloodties a critical book for anyone grappling with the humans' role on Earth. Part outdoors journal, part anthropology, Bloodties is a beautifully written, evocative work of contemporary ecology.

    More than four hundred full-colour photographs and detailed sketches highlight this look at the key stages in life of 288 plants and animals, taking an incredible journey through the year, one month at a time.

    This guide describes 120 common species of these fuzzy creatures. All the caterpillars, their adult forms and many of their host plants are illustrated.

    Based on the author's many years of experience, The Perelandra Garden Workbook is filled with practical techniques, fresh perspectives on traditional organic gardening methods, and an infectious sense of joy and humor. Interspersed throughout this book are many direct communications from the different levels of nature intelligence. Each reveal universal natural law and a cosmic wisdom applicable not only to gardens dug in soil, but to every garden planted in the larger soil of life experience. Truly, a book for everyone seeking to connect into the larger picture of life.

    This book provides the first complete identification guides to the birds of this teeming tropical paradise. It gives descriptions of 820 regional species, illustrated in 88 specially commissioned color plates accompanied by notes detailing distinctive features and habitats. Entries cover nomenclature, plumage, markings, voice, global range, distribution and regional status, habits, and diet. The main text gives practical information on where to find many exotic species, citing major birdwatching locations. Introductory chapters discuss habitats, climate, land-use, and conservation concerns. Professional ornithologists and amateur bird watchers alike will find this the indispensable bird guide for eastern Malaysia and western Indonesia for many years to come. It is also an unrivalled source of information for casual travellers and ecotourists.

    There are many garden writers, but few whose work can be considered to have the status of literature. There is only one who has achieved this at the same time as delivering horticultural information which enlightens even the most erudite of planstmen, and that is Christopher Lloyd. His prose is exciting; his knowledge is vast; his ideas are provocative, and what is the true test of a writer who has transcended his medium, he makes you laugh out loud.

    Charmingly illustrated.

    By carefully separating fact from fiction, this book redresses the sensationalism of recent decades and reveals the truth about sharks. Includes an illustrated directory of 51 species.

    Did you know that wolves are like dogs--they are loyal, affectionate, and highly intelligent.live in packs--or families--led by the strongest female and male.are friendly with one another: They play games, bring food to one another, and even babysit one another's cubs!Award-winning science writer Seymour Simon has teamed up with the Smithsonian Institution to give you the real story about this mythical and legendary animal in an updated edition of his classic full-color photographic introduction.

    Readers will develop their artistic eye and soon learn to see the artistic possibilities that surround them. Morteza E. Sohi gives careful directions on how to choose leaves for shape and color, how to arrange them in an animal form, and how to preserve the finished work of art. A field guide helps young leaf artists learn more about the tools of their craft.

    In clear and sparkling prose, Jerry Dennis transports us to a world that every angler dreams of-where the very next cast will be the one that hooks something enormous and wonderful.

    Just one small square is alive with creepers and crawlers, lifters and leapers, singers, buzzers, climbers, builders, and recyclers. Backyard invites children ages 7 and up to become nature lovers by looking, listening, touching, and smelling the world from the ground up! From the unique One Small Square series of science acitivity books. . .where children can explore exotic and familiar ecosystems in detail, one small square at a time.

    Whether you are a day-tripper or long-distance hiker, old hand or novice, you'll find trails suited to every ability and interest. The Connecticut Forest & Park Association (CFPA) maintains over 825 miles of Blue-Blazed Trails in Connecticut, trails that wind through state parks and forests, land trusts, and across private land. The Connecticut Walk Book is a comprehensive guide to these trails, including detailed, full-color maps, mileage/destination tables, and a lay-flat design for ease of use. In this twentieth edition of the Connecticut Walk Book you will find descriptions of the hikes with maps that are clear and easy to read and follow, parking information, and trip-planning essentials that will bring you to every trail.

    --from Rivers of Memory

    While exploring at the shore or reading at home, children ages 7 and up will be astonished by the richness and variety of creatures at the water's edge. Beautifully illustrated, with a picture reference and glossary, Seashore is just one volume from the critically acclaimed One Small Square series of hands-on science books, now available in paperback.

    

    Includes transparent overlays.

    The imprisoned species of pigs use their slum language; ravens, cuttlefish, sunflowers and a shell-back tick are among those non-verbal members of our natural world which find distinctive voices in this new collection of poems by Les Murray. Few poets could achieve such variety of approach to express character and feelings and to give us their vision of the universe. Les Murray also includes the human animal in the poems which begin and conclude the collection.

    Flower essences are safe and powerful catalysts that anyone can use. Not only do they bring clarity to the conscious mind and develop many intuitive abilities, but they also resolve negative beliefs and directly affect us at the level where we make decisions about our emotions, health, vitality and relationships. Flower essences unlock our inherent positive qualities such as love, courage and joy. Naturopath Ian White has taken this age-old study and applied it to the flowering plants of the Australian bush, showing that the energy and power in the ancient lands of Australia are manifested in the healing properties of its plants. In Australian Bush Flower Essences, he gives an informative yet personal picture of fifty bush flower essences from all over the country, as well as detailed information about their preparation and use in all areas of healing. He also provides a bibliography of important works about natural healing and an index of illnesses and their treatment. Fully illustrated, Australian Bush Flower Essences is the most comprehensive and farreaching book yet written about this important modality. It is designed to allow anyone to feel competent and confident in using these essences to bring about health, harmony and well-being. IanWhite is a highly respected practitioner and teacher of naturopathy and kinesiology. His family have been natural health practitioners specializing in herbal medicine for five generations. www.ausflowers.com.au

    Covers everything from blackflies and gypsy moths to silverfish and ladybugs (the one insect for which "bug-hating" humans have an inordinate fondness). Line drawings.

    Tveten, offers bird watchers something no field guide ever has: outstanding color photography and authoritative information on Texas birds put together in a beautifully crafted book.

    This new full colour photographic guide to over 310 species of bird found in Britain and Europe arranges birds by size for easy identification.

    Each specimen is described in detail: its origin and structure, chemical composition, hardness, color, and other properties.

    Discover who animals and others forms of life really are; how they understand themselves and others; how they feel about humans and life on earth; how they choose their paths in life and death; the depth of their spiritual understanding, and much more.

    He still needs lots of help from Mother, but one day Pup will be old enough to dive down below the waves and search for food on his own. Accompanied by beautiful illustrations and set in the North Pacific, this heartwarming tale is perfect for little ones who still have lots to learn themselves.

    As the seasons pass, Snowshoe Hare's coat changes from brown to white and back to brown again, helping her to blend into her habitat and avoid predators as she searches for food.

    We find ourselves in a kind of paradise, which humans may be part of but which they have not despoiled.A Native father and son lead us through forests, down rivers, over lakes and ponds. Along the way we experience the primordial beauty of the physical world. This is nature as we all feel in our hearts it must once have been.Through lyrical words and a masterful collage technique, Leo Yerxa has created an exquisite and poetic evocation of this moment.

    Reprint. PW.

    Each description includes a color photograph and locations of notable specimens visible from the street. Appendices list trees by the months for best viewing and propose nine pleasant neighborhood tours.

    Features over 250 full-color photographs.

    Spanning 25,000 years and covering topics that range from Pleistocene glaciers to the ill-fated Donner Party, The Desert's Past presents the first complete synthesis of the environmental and human history of North America's Great Basin.

    Visual reference for North American raptors examines 17 hawks, falcons, eagles, and osprey--a must-have volume for carvers and others interested in these magnificent birds.

    A wildlife photographer records in text and photographs two visits to Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories, where he filmed a pack of Arctic wolves over several months.

    Chronicles a year in a black bear's life, beginning with her emerging from hibernation in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains during the spring thaw in February.

    Exquisite, full-color photographs unveil the secret blueprints of nature often overlooked by the casual observer: the spiral forms that appear in seashells, spiderwebs, and the heart of a daisy; the hexagons found in honeycombs and cracking mud. Through its captivating photographic content and accessible scientific examination. By Nature's Design reaveals the order, economy, and elegance of nature's diverse forms in an engaging volume that will fascinate and inform art and nature lovers alike.

    Photos.

    Going with him was Lieutenant George Douglas Brewerton, who describes their journey over the Old Spanish Trail. It was a torturous route across deserts and mountains requiring the kind of expert survival skills that made Kit Carson famous. The scout, who was carrying the news that would begin the rush for gold, went as far as Taos, where he was reunited with his wife. From there Brewerton joined a wagon train that labored over the Santa Fe Trail to Independence, Missouri.  Overland with Kit Carson is a colorful and authentic account of encounters with Indians and white adventurers and of the hazards and hardships that accompanied anyone who undertook such a long journey in a sparsely populated country.

    . . . Things Maps Don't Tell Us actually communicates a great deal about the things maps can tell us if we care to look carefully underneath the printed symbols."—James E. Young, Cartographic Perspectives

    Embark on a lyrical journey which begins at Earth's very beginning, explores what people have done to our planet and charts a hopeful, united course towards the future.A must read NOW for budding environmentalists, budding evolutionists and anyone, young or old, who cares about the planet that we call home.

    Whyte, Jane Jacobs, Francis Bello, Seymour Freedgood, and Daniel Seligman address the problems of urban decline and suburban sprawl, transportation, city politics, open space, and the character and fabric of cities. A new foreword by Sam Bass Warner, Jr., and preface by Whyte demonstrate the relevance of The Exploding Metropolis to urban issues in the 90s.

    Looks at the early study of North American wildlife, describes various species, and discusses the first naturalists to identify them.

    The text includes strong supportive reviews, a balanced approach and the latest in research and findings. The author is known for an accessible and easy-to-understand writing style making the most difficult topics understandable.

    In this groundbreaking book, a brilliant writer and a great scientist paint an extraordinary portrait of chimps, humans, and our complex lives together since the 1600s, when Shakespeare created Caliban, neither man nor beast but "honored with a human shape". 8-page photo insert.

    Includes sections on history and lore, cultivation, and designing rose gardens.

    Accessible to amateur marine life enthusiasts, this book is the first comprehensive guide of its kind. It enables the reader to quickly identify 2,118 species of fish and includes over 2,500 color illustrations depicting the major forms of each species--male, female, immature, or geographical varieties. The text proceeds according to region, depicting each species and its varieties, and offering information on its geographic range and where on the coral reef itself the fish may be found. Important identification characteristics are highlighted on every color plate.

    . . .Southwesterners are well accustomed to this sleek, mostly brown and white, long-tailed nemesis of coyote as it darts across roads or perches on a post or branch never too far from the ground. Equally familiar is the stylized image of the roadrunner, which adorns everything from Native American pottery and jewelry to clothing and logos. Clearly the roadrunner continues to thrive as a cultural icon. Yet no other study comes close to equaling Wyman Meinzer’s stunning classic, now available in this tenth anniversary edition.Meinzer’s photo study is his personal account of the years he has spent observing and recording the daily routine of several roadrunner families. Through his lens, Meinzer chronicled roadrunners’ courting, mating, nesting, hunting, and rearing their young.Punctuated by humor and poignancy, his story possesses an unmatched connectedness and insights afforded only those who develop a longstanding relationship with their subjects of study. Many of the roadrunners that Meinzer recorded became comfortable with his presence—one even permitted his assistance in catching a lizard.Though it is hard to improve upon a classic, this new edition, celebrating the book’s tenth year of publication, includes a new preface from Meinzer and several new photographs, including that of a rare white roadrunner.

    It is beautifully illustrated and is written in clear, non-technical language. The book's broad, up-to-date coverage and its extensive bibliography with over 1,000 references also make it invaluable to graduate students and researchers. This new edition now comes with a Glossary.

    From the life history and propagation, to the explanation of predators and parasites, the author shares his personal experiences with this non-aggressive bee. You will find all the information you need to capture and raise these docile bees at home.

    This book is an in depth "how-to" of outdoor primitive skills.

    In the course of that year, as he searched for new work and battled severe depression, he eventually ended up in Denver, where he began exploring the high mountain country west of the city. For Middleton, the turning point in his long journey through life's dark side came with the discovery of a blind brown trout in a Rocky Mountain stream where Middleton spent his every spare moment feeding what he calls his "terrible addiction" to fly fishing. That bright river and the blind trout would assume a larger significance and become for him a metaphor for struggle and survival. Middleton's terms with life as it is, with the fits and starts of the human condition, seems always to involve trout and fly fishing. Middleton's books are dominated not only by memorable rivers and trout but also by some of literature's most colorful, comical, and fascinating people. The Bright Country is no exception. As we follow Middleton on his journey through the terrain of paradise and hell, we meet: Swami Bill, president and CEO of the Holistic Motor Court, Ashram & Coin Laundry in Boulder, Colorado; his main squeeze, the heartbreakingly beautiful Kiwi LaReaux; a short-order cook who spends his nights on the roof of a west Texas hotel looking at the night sky through a cracked telescope; there is the life and death of truth, Dr. truth; the seductive Mi Oh, hostess at the Now & Zen restaurant in Denver; and, of course, the blind brown trout in its blind eyes Middleton finds not dead shadows but living light.

    Today there are 50 national parks within the United States, encompassing an extraordinary diversity of terrain, animal life, and vegetation. From the dry deserts of Big Bend National Park in Texas to the icy wilderness of Gates of the Arctic National Park in Alaska, the wonderful natural heritage of America’s national parks is yours to color and enjoy in this exciting coloring book. Among the other parks features are Grand Canyon, Everglades, Great Smoky Mountains, Mammoth Cave, Petrified Forest, and many more. In addition to Peter Copeland’s detailed, carefully researched drawings, you’ll also find informative captions describing distinguishing features of each park, its wildlife, plants, and available activities for visitors. The result is not only an enjoyable and informative coloring book, but also a useful survey of the major attractions of these splendid preserves.

    This illustrated volume is devoted to the Japanese crane, one of the world's rarest and most strikingly beautiful birds - symbol of long life and happiness, and a source of inspiration to artists and poets.

    Then consider telling them to focus their attention on just one animal—Ovis canadensis, popularly called the desert bighorn or borrego cimarrón—and have them write about it. Have them write from makeshift blinds or from behind a gun barrel. Have them write while walking across the Cabeza Prieta at night, or while flying over it trying to radio-collar the creatures. Have them write from actual sightings of the animals or simply from their tracks and droppings. What would result from such an exercise is Counting Sheep, an unusual anthology that demonstrates the range of possibilities in nature writing. While ostensibly a collection of writings about these desert sheep that live along the U.S.-Mexico border, it also represents an attempt to broaden the scope of the natural history essay. Writers trained in a wide range of disciplines spanning the natural and social sciences here offer a similarly diverse collection of writings, with women's, Hispanic, and Native American views complementing those in a genre long dominated by Anglo men. The four sections of the anthology comprise pre-Anglo-American tradition, examples of early nature writing, varied responses by modern writers to actually counting sheep, and a selection of essays that place bighorns in the context of the larger world. Counting Sheep celebrates the diversity of cultural responses to this single animal species in its Sonoran Desert habitat and invites readers to change the way in which they view their relationship to wild creatures everywhere. It also shows how nature writers can delight us all by the varied ways in which they practice their craft.Contributors:Charles BowdenDavid E. BrownBill BroylesJulian HaydenWilliam T. HornadayPaul KrausmanDanny LopezEric MellinkMauricio MixcoGale MonsonGary Paul NabhanDoug PeacockKermit RooseveltHarley G. ShawCharles SheldonPeter SteinhartAnita Alvarez de WilliamsTerry Tempest WilliamsAnn Zwinger

    A dissection of the Soviet Union's legacy of health and environmental disaster, this book examines a former country of 103 cities - home to 70 million people - where the air is unfit to breathe and pollution fouls 75 percent of the water.

    Used Book in good condition. No missing/ torn pages. No stains. Note: The above used product classification has been solely undertaken by the seller. Amazon shall neither be liable nor responsible for any used product classification undertaken by the seller. A-to-Z Guarantee not applicable on used products.

    Richly illustrated, The World of the Sea Otter is both an authoritative natural history and a visual celebration of this playful creature.

    This guide simplifies identification by illustrating only species found in Florida--using superb photographs of live butterflies coupled with detailed range maps and identification data. It also offers, with unprecedented detail, much information on flight times and abundances for each of five Florida subregions, including reports on 70 localities in which to find butterflies. Lastly, discussions of the foodplants for each species along with suggestions for attracting these species to one's garden make this work invaluable for all Florida gardeners interested in butterflies.

    This prodigious exploration of the Pacific coast examines the many links between landscape and life, focusing on how the region's geological evolution has influenced its plants and animals.

    Includes glossary, index, and diagrams. Supports the national science education standards Unifying Concepts and Processes: Systems, Order, and Organization; Unifying Concepts and Processes: Form and Function; Life Science; and Science in Personal and Social Perspectives as outlined by the National Academics of Science and endorsed by the National Science Teachers Association.

    This book recounts the biography and teachings of an enlightened master in India. This re-publication is written by a British couple who, late in life, found their lives transformed through meeting him.

    A Guide to Flowering Plants of the Low Desert, Including the Coachella Valley, Anza-Borrego Desert, and Portions of Joshua Tree.

    The letters of George Washington Sears should interest not only the wilderness lover, but also the boater and craftsman who longs to own the perfect canoe.

    Arranged by flower color with color bars on edges of pages.

    A great horned owl's stirrings to mate carry him across a forest in January in the Catskill Mountains, where he observes the nocturnal activities of other animals.

    Forty color photographs by 13 exceptional wildlife photographers show the otter at work and play, while range maps show both current and historic locations of the otters. It's all here for the budding biologist or zoologist, or the just-plain-curious kid: otter methods of courtship and reproduction, eating habits, and the animal's complex relationship with humankind, including how these playful animals continue to be threatened by oil spills and the encroachment of human society. An "Otter Secrets" section presents "amazing but true" characteristics of the otter, while the "To Learn More" page points curious readers to related websites, books, organizations, videos, and DVDs.

    Includes an 80 page "Album of Cats" featuring 44 breeds.

    Referring to the biblical prophets, he says they were not the holy fortunetellers that the word prophet has come to signify....The business of prophecy is not simply foretelling the future; rather it is describing thepresent with exceptional truthfulness and accuracy. Once this is done, then it can be seen that broad aspects of the future have suddenly become apparent. The twentieth century is drawing to a chaotic close amidst portents of unprecedented change and upheaval. The unravelling of societies and civilizations and the destruction of nature march together--linked--a fact whose enormous significance is often lost. In Beginning Again, David Ehrenfeld hasundertaken the difficult task of describing the present clearly enough to reveal the future. Out of his broad vision emerges a glimpse of a new millennium: a vision at once frightening and comforting, a scene of great devastation and great rebuilding. Ehrenfeld ranges far and wide to present a coherent vision of our relationship with Nature--its many aspects and implications--as our century opens into the next millennium. Whether he is writing about the problem of loyalty to organizations, rights versus obligations, our over-managed society, the vanishing of established knowledge, the failure of experts, the triumph of dandelions, Dr. Seuss, Edward Teller, or the future of farming, he is always concerned with the intricate interaction between technology and nature. As in his classic book, The Arrogance of Humanism, Ehrenfeld never losessight of our fatal love affair with the fantasy of control. We now have no choice, he argues, but to transform the dream of control, of progress, from one of overweening hubris, love of consumption, and the idiot's goal of perpetual growth, to one based on the inventive imitation of nature, withits honesty, beauty, resilience, and durability. Few American writers and even fewer scientists can describe these timeless, transcendent qualities of nature so well. In Places, the opening chapter, David Ehrenfeld tells about nightly vigils he spent alone on the moonlit beach of Tortuguero, watching giant sea turtles emerging from the seato lay their eggs in the black sand where they were born. I could watch the perfect white spheres falling, he writes. Falling as they have fallen for a hundred million years, with the same slow cadence, always shielded from the rain or stars by the same massive bulk with the beaked head and thesame large, myopic eyes rimmed with crusts of sand washed out by tears. Minutes and hours, days and months dissolve into eons. I am on an Oligocene beach, an Eocene beach, a Cretaceous beach--the scene is the same. It is night, the turtles are coming back, always back; I hear a deep hiss of breathand catch a glint of wet shell as the continents slide and crash, the oceans form and grow

    Brief text and delicate watercolors abound in clever, playful details that give clues to help identify each homeowner.

    It is the only book available that features representative species of each family ingeniously photographed -- both in an aquatic environment and against a white background -- highlighting their shapes and distinctive markings. An authoritative text provides a detailed description of the characteristics, feeding habits, breeding behavior, and native habitats of each fresh and brackish water species, as well as information on its care. The consummate guide to an exciting hobby, Aquarium Fish of the World is sure to become a classic reference book for aquarium fish enthusiasts everywhere.

    In more recent years, amateur naturalists have also turned their lenses to the world of butterflies, whose myriad species and fantastic shapes and colors offer an intriguing challenge to even the most seasoned birder. But while bird enthusiasts have always had the help of accurate and accessible handbooks, those observing butterflies have had no such advantage. Until now, that is. In this unique field guide, Jeffrey Glassberg has made butterfly watching a less frustrating and far more rewarding pastime, showing us how to find, identify, and enjoy the nearly 160 species that inhabit the Northeast. Butterflies Through Binoculars is the first butterfly guide to combine the immediacy and vividness of actual photographs of living butterflies with the traditional field guide format. While older guides cater to the collector, offering drawings that show the captured and mounted insect, this book shows butterflies in their natural poses and in the correct size relationship to related species. With Butterflies Through Binoculars in hand, the brilliant Tiger Swallowtail, the more dour Mourning Cloak, even the Rare Skipper itself will not elude identification by the beginning--or, for that matter, the more seasoned--observer. By focussing the guide on the Boston to Washington corridor, Glassberg has excluded the species from unrelated areas that have made older field guides so cumbersome. In addition, he provides entirely new field marks for butterfly identification, demonstrates how to identify subjects by way of the key characteristics butterflies are likely to display in their natural settings, shows how species can be recognized both from above and below, and explains how to differentiate between males and females. Besides being a handy guide to identification, Butterflies Through Binoculars also tells readers where to find particular species, giving a complete account of flight times, ranges, and seasonal patterns. Nine major locations for butterflying are described in great detail, and readers are directed to forty specific locations where uncommon--even rare--species can be found. And throughout the book, the basic natural history of each species is considered in a lively, readable fashion. For butterfly enthusiasts, for bird watchers who want to add a new dimension to their hobby, for anyone who is simply interested in exploring the wilds of their own back yard, Butterflies Through Binoculars will offer hours of delightful help and instruction.