From Nancy Lawson, author of The Humane Gardener, an insightful and personal exploration of the vibrant web of nature outside our back door-where animals and plants perceive and communicate using marvelous sensory capabilities we are only beginning to understand. In The World Through Their Eyes, master naturalist Nancy Lawson takes readers on a fascinating visual tour of the secret life of animals and plants. Organized into chapters investigating each of their five senses, Lawson's exploration reveals a remarkable world of interdependent creatures with amazing capabilities. You'll learn of ultrasound clicks humans can't hear, and ultraviolet colors humans can't see. You'll cross paths with foraging American bumblebees drawn to the scent of wild bergamot, urban sparrows who adapt their mating song in response to human clamor, beech trees whose proximity provides protection and sugary sustenance to salamanders and nearby flora, and a chipmunk behaving like the world's smallest pole vaulter to nab juicy red berries hanging from the lowest parts of a coral honeysuckle vine. Synthesizing cutting-edge scientific research, original interviews with animal and plant researchers, and poetic observations made in her own garden, Lawson shows us how to appreciate the natural environment from the sensory perspective of our wild neighbors right outside our door and beyond, and how to respect and nurture the full range of their vibrancy and diversity. door-where animals and plants perceive and communicate using marvelous sensory capabilities we are only beginning to understand.

In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson explains why we should welcome wildlife to our yards and provides foundational advice for doing so. Through personal narratives, profiles of home gardeners and interviews with scientists, the book applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own backyards.