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Books > Sport & Leisure > Natural history, country life & pets > Wild animals
Lee Stuart learned from an early age to respect all creatures
through his heritage as a Native American; he also learned what it
was like to be an unwanted citizen in this country. Throughout his
life, he demonstrated an uncanny knack for understanding and
communicating with animals, particularly those that were unwanted.
From Teddy the Bantam rooster to Sparky the pigeon, as well as a
wide variety of other pets, Stuart loved them all deeply and fought
to protect them from ill treatment. The deep bond that
developed between himself and the unwanted black Labrador retriever
his daughter named Boomer confirms that there is much to the
master/dog relationship, which is poignantly demonstrated when
Boomer saves Stuart's life in 1996
Winner of the Richard Jefferies Society and White Horse Book Shop
Literary Prize 'splendid' -Guardian 'visionary' -New Statesman
Britain has all the space it needs for an epic return of its
wildlife. Only six percent of our country is built upon. Contrary
to popular myth, large areas of our countryside are not
productively farmed but remain deserts of opportunity for both
wildlife and jobs. It is time to turn things around. Praised as
'visionary' by conservationists and landowners alike, Rebirding
sets out a compelling manifesto for restoring Britain's wildlife,
rewilding its species and restoring rural jobs - to the benefit of
all.
When American explorers crossed the Texas Panhandle, they dubbed it
part of the ""Great American Desert."" A ""sea of grass,"" the
llano appeared empty, flat, and barely habitable. Contemporary
developments - cell phone towers, oil rigs, and wind turbines -
have only added to this stereotype. Yet in this lyrical ecomemoir,
Shelley Armitage charts a unique rediscovery of the largely unknown
land, a journey at once deeply personal and far-reaching in its
exploration of the connections between memory, spirit, and place.
Armitage begins her narrative with the intention to walk the llano
from her family farm thirty meandering miles along the Middle
Alamosa Creek to the Canadian River. Along the way, she seeks the
connection between her father and one of the area's first settlers,
Ysabel Gurule, who built his dugout on the banks of the Canadian.
Armitage, who grew up nearby in the small town of Vega, finds this
act of walking inseparable from the act of listening and writing.
""What does the land say to us?"" she asks as she witnesses human
alterations to the landscape - perhaps most catastrophic the
continued drainage of the land's most precious resource, the
Ogallala Aquifer. Yet the llano's wonders persist: dynamic mesas
and canyons, vast flora and fauna, diverse wildlife, rich
histories. Armitage recovers the voices of ancient, Native, and
Hispano peoples, their stories interwoven with her own: her
father's legacy, her mother's decline, a brother's love. The llano
holds not only the beauty of ecological surprises but a renewed
realization of kinship in a world ever changing. Reminiscent of the
work of Terry Tempest Williams and John McPhee, Walking the Llano
is both a celebration of an oft-overlooked region and a soaring
testimony to the power of the landscape to draw us into greater
understanding of ourselves and others by experiencing a deeper
connection with the places we inhabit.
This book is a compilation of bird stories written by our mother,
Martha Ramseur Gillham. They were first published in the Arkansas
Wildlife Federation newspaper Arkansas Out-of-Doors from 1972 until
1985. She was a longtime member of the federation which was
instrumental in passing Amendment 35 to the Arkansas constitution
which established the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission as an
independent body. All the illustrations were drawn by another
member and close friend, Joe Gray, a commercial and wildlife
artist, and political cartoonist in Dardanelle Arkansas. The book
has been assembled and published at the insistence and funding of
our father Ralph Gillham. All proceeds from sales will go to the
Yell County Wildlife Federation. Lucien and Richard Gillham, Joanna
Gray Lange and Bob Gray
Birds at their Best - Birds and Man - Daws in the West Country -
Early Spring in Savernake Forest - A Wood Wren at Wells - Secret of
the Charm of Flowers - Ravens in Somerset - Owls in a Village - The
Strange and Beautiful Sheldrake - Geese: An Appeciation and a
Memory - The Dartford Warbler - Vert-Vert Or Perrot Gossip -
Something Pretty in a Glass Case - Selborne
 Explore all the incredible colours in the natural world!
Why is the sky blue? What makes the grass green? Why is purple so
rare in nature? With fascinating and rarely heard facts on
wildlife, gemstones, sea life and more, I Can See Nature's Rainbow
is a visual feast for both young and old. Â Bold, beautiful
art covering ten colours of the vibrant natural world Learn all
about colour in nature, from pigment and light to plants and
habitats Full colour non-fiction picture book for ages 4+ Â
 Â
Stretching along 156 miles of Florida's East Coast, the Indian
River Lagoon contains the St. Lucie estuary, the Mosquito Lagoon,
Banana River Lagoon, and the Indian River. Nineteen canals and five
man-made inlets have dramatically reshaped the region in the past
two centuries, challenging the most biologically diverse estuarine
system in the United States. Indian River Lagoon traces the winding
story of the waterway, showing how humans have altered the area to
fit their needs and also how the lagoon has influenced the cultures
along its shores. Now stuck in transition between a place of labor
and a place of recreation, the lagoon has become a chief focus of
public concern. This book provides a much-needed bigger picture as
debates continue over how best to restore this natural resource.
Secrets of an Ageless Journey (1997) the journey begins once again
when a sixteen year old girl, Sarah, ventures into the mysteries
surrounding her grandfather and the family ancestral ranch. While
visiting her cousins on the ranch she discovers an old journal
written over eighty years before. The journal becomes the focus of
her quest for discovering a mysterious influence that is about the
family; and in some way guiding her. (1915) the journal takes Sarah
back to one summer in the life of her great grandfather, Joseph,
and his twin sister, Ida Belle as they experience a similar
ancestral stirring in their lives. A great grandmother comes to
visit the twins, involving them in a mystery that has haunted her
and the clan. It is through the grandmother that the premise of an
invisible force and invisible world exist and was essential to the
culture and heritage of an American Indian nation.
Elephants are as unique as people. They can be clever and curious
or headstrong and impulsive, shy or sociable. Learn to know them as
individuals as well as a species in this evocative account of years
spent studying elephant behaviour in the wild. Watching a family
out for a swim on a hot day, Dr Hannah Mumby notes grandmothers,
mothers, sisters and children exchanging noisy greetings, a
consistent stream of close-range vocalisations, intermittent
touching, co-operative herding of babies and frequent stopping for
snacks. A close and interconnected family. But in this family, the
adults weigh several tons each and the babies wave trunks playfully
at one another. This is a herd of elephants. That elephants are
intelligent, sentient beings is common knowledge, but so much about
their day-to-day lives and abilities remains unknown. How do they
communicate with one another over seemingly impossible distances?
How do males spend their lives once they have left their mothers'
herds? And how much do they really remember? In this lyrically
written and deeply personal account of several years of field
research, Mumby reverently describes her own elephant encounters,
alongside an exploration of the most up-to-date discoveries about
the lives of these gentle giants. Learn how elephants live, travel,
have sex, raise children and relate to one another, and reflect on
how they think and feel. Understanding elephants as individuals
closes the gap between human and animal and has powerful
applications in the critical field of elephant conservation.
Previous published in hardback as Elephants: Birth, Death and
Family in the Lives of the Giants.
'Kindness and co-operation have played a crucial role in raising
humans to the top of the evolutionary tree ... We have thrived on
the milk of human kindness.' Observer BY THE AUTHOR OF ARE WE SMART
ENOUGH TO KNOW HOW SMART ANIMALS ARE? 'There is a widely-held
assumption that humans are hard-wired for relentless and ruthless
competition ... Frans de Waal sees nature differently - as a
biological legacy in which empathy, not mere self-interest, is
shared by humans, bonobos and animals.' Ben Macintyre, The Times
Empathy holds us together. That we are hardwired to be altruistic
is the result of thousands of years of evolutionary biology which
has kept society from slipping into anarchy. But we are not alone:
primates, elephants, even rodents are empathetic creatures too.
Social behaviours such as the herding instinct, bonding rituals,
expressions of consolation and even conflict resolution demonstrate
that animals are designed to feel for each other. From chimpanzees
caring for mates that have been wounded by leopards, elephants
reassuring youngsters in distress and dolphins preventing sick
companions from drowning, with a wealth of anecdotes, scientific
observations, wry humour and incisive intelligence, The Age of
Empathy is essential reading for all who believe in the power of
our connections to each other.
It was the pathetic mews of a hungry mother cat, scrounging in a
dumpster to feed her kittens that first caught Bob and Kathy Rude's
attention. They found the hungry cat and several more hungry
felines while helping out at the family restaurant one summer. The
chance meeting between the hungry strays and two government
computer programmers led to the creation of Rude Ranch Animal
Rescue, one of the United States' hardest working No-Kill Animal
Sanctuaries. Read on to meet these original Rude Cats and find what
can go right and wrong when you try to help a few stray animals and
inadvertently start an animal sanctuary.
In this short but informative guide, trusted authors Chris and Mathilde
Stuart turn mammal ID on its head – literally. The identification of
mammal skulls is the subject of this latest addition to the quirky
‘Quick Guide’ series, and covers the most common skulls readers are
likely to encounter in the wild – from easily recognisable species such
as elephant, hippo, rhino, baboons, antelope, whales and dolphins, to
the more challenging family groups: dogs, cats, hyaenas, equids, pigs,
civets and genets, mongooses, rats and mice, bats, sengis, shrews,
moles, hares and rabbits, hyrax, and squirrels.
Each entry features:
- Close-up photographs showing the entire skull, teeth and,
where available, upper and lower jaws
- Pointers to diagnostic features
- Average measurement for skull length
- Short description highlighting main features of each skull
and tooth structure
- Dental formula for teeth in upper and lower jaws
A brief introduction, with labelled photographs, covers anatomy as well
as dentition; and a quick-reference photographic key to the main animal
groups appears on the inside front cover.
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