Adventures Among Ants

Mark Moffett
595.7961 Mof

Intrepid international explorer, biologist, and photographer Mark W. Moffett, "the Indiana Jones of entomology," takes us around the globe on a strange and colorful journey in search of the hidden world of ants. In tales from Nigeria, Indonesia, the Amazon, Australia, California, and elsewhere, Moffett recounts his entomological exploits and provides fascinating details on how ants live and how they dominate their ecosystems through strikingly human behaviors, yet at a different scale and a faster tempo.


Animals Make Us Human

Temple Grandin
636.0832 Gra

With sympathy and a detailed knowledge of what makes  animals tick, Grandin answers for cats, dogs, horses, cows, pigs, and even some  species of wildlife the question, "What does an animal need to have a good  life?" To evaluate whether zoo animals are happy she asks these questions: is  the animal acting normally, taking part in varied activities, does it appear  confident, and does it look relaxed while resting.


Blindsided: Surviving a Grizzly Attack and Still Loving the Great Bear

Jim Cole
599.784 Col

Although it describes in detail two bear maulings, Cole's  account is more of a natural history than an I-was-eaten-by-a-wild-animal-and-lived-to-tell-the-tale account.   The author ends the book with an impassioned call for conservation of this  great species that inhabits only truly wild places.


Bonobo Handshake

Vanessa Woods
599.884 Woo

Bonobos share 98.7% of our human DNA. This Australian  writer tells of her odyssey from wildlife writer to researcher of what some  primate researchers call the sexiest apes. Also included in this memoir is a  romance with a primatologist. Woods describes the difficulty of doing research  in war-torn Congo.


Destination Wildlife

Pamela Brodowsky
590.723 Bro

Let's face it: the premise of this guide is depressing--1001  animals to see before their species is irrevocably lost, vanished forever from  earth. But if you want ideas of where to travel to see some magnificent animals  this source lists wildlife parks and sanctuaries where you can see incredible  wildlife.


Eels: An Exploration from New Zealand to the Sargasso

James Prosek
597.43 Pro

OK. I agree it takes a certain kind of person to feel  touchy-feely good about an ugly fish who resembles a snake. Prosek traveled to  New York, New Zealand, Japan, Europe and Micronesia to discover more about  these fascinating creatures. Did you know that eels can walk across land to get  where they need to go? Prosek's wonderful line drawings make this book as  elegant as any 19th century natural history.


Hope for Animals and the World

Jane Goodall
591.68 Goo

Although there have been more losses than gains, and many  more species will go extinct in this century, naturalist Goodall and her two  co-authors celebrate awe-inspiring successes such as reintroducing wallabies  and Mongolian horses from captive breeding programs back into the wild. There's  also good news in our country for red wolves and California condors. The  authors show what successful reintroduction programs have in common.


Music of the Birds: A Celebration of Bird Song

Lang Elliott
598 El

Why do birds sing? In songbirds only males sing and usually  only during the spring and summer breeding season. Most people have been  enthralled by the beauty of the "dawn chorus." This book offers many rare  photographs of birds in song as well as an audio CD of their varied songs.


A Naturalist and Other Beasts

George Schaller
590 Sch

One of the last explorer-naturalists, Schaller has led an  amazing life studying wildlife: he's studied tigers in India, snow leopards in  Nepal, lions in Africa and pandas in China and that's only a partial listing.  This anthology provides a broad look at wildlife and what steps people are  taking for conservation.


Shark Trouble

Peter Benchley
597.3 Be

Have you read lately too many accounts of shark/ human  encounters?  Adventurer and author of Jaws offers information here on which  sharks are most dangerous. He also tells how to swim safely in the sea. Be  reassured, according to the author, the odds of suffering a shark attack are  extremely small.


Voyage of the Turtle

Carl Safina
597.928 Sa

The author calls leatherback turtles "the last warm-blooded  monster reptile" thus the title. He explores both scientific and cultural  information about turtles from both those researching them and those  worshipping them by travelling and reporting from Trinidad, Baja, Costa Rica.  the US, and New Guinea.


Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives

Thomas French
590.73 Fre

A captivating close-up examination of a zoo community  including both animal and human life. Especially interesting is the section on  introducing wild elephants for the first time to an American zoo including  their flight from Africa on a jet. Other intriguing zoo denizens include Herman  the chimp and Enshalla, a tiger that the author calls Queen.