In the early nineteenth century 25 to 40 percent of North America's birds were passenger pigeons, traveling in flocks so massive as to block out the sun for hours or even days. The down beats of their wings would chill the air beneath and create a thundering roar that would drown out all other sound. Feeding flocks would appear as "a blue wave four or five feet high rolling toward you."John James Audubon, impressed by their speed and agility, said a lone passenger pigeon streaking through the forest "passes like a thought." How prophetic--for although a billion pigeons crossed the skies 80 miles from Toronto in May of 1860, little more than fifty years later passenger pigeons were extinct. The last of the species, Martha, died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo on September 1, 1914.
Bloomsbury
|
9781620405345
|
Hardcover
A Wolf Called Romeo
By Jans, Nick
The unlikely true story of a six-year friendship between a wild, oddly gentle black wolf and the people and dogs of Juneau, Alaska No stranger to wildlife, Nick Jans had lived in Alaska for nearly thirty years. But when one evening at twilight a lone black wolf ambled into view not far from his doorstep, Nick would finally come to know this mystical speciesup close as never before. A Wolf Called Romeo is the remarkable story of a wolf who returned again and again to interact with the people and dogs of Juneau, living on the edges of their community, engaging in an improbable, awe-inspiring interspecies dance and bringing the wild into sharp focus. At first the people of Juneau were guarded, torn between shoot first, ask questions later instincts and curiosity.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
|
9780547858197
|
Hardcover
Poetry from Scratch
By Mccartney, Jennifer
The newest entry in the feline literary canon is here ... so pee on this, cat poet wannabes Hipster cats, stay-at-home-mom cats, windowsill cats, and outdoor cats -- you'll find them all here, immortalized in prose about, for, and sometimes by, cats. With a Brooklyn edge, author Jennifer McCartney ups the cool quotient on this burgeoning genre.Of Mice and MenThere once was a cat who loved booksHe liked bookshelves that had lots of nooksHe thought especially niceThe tomes about miceOne page and the kitty was hooked From limericks to beat poems, haikus to sonnets, riffs on famous verse to original blank verse, there is something here for every cat lover to enjoy. 50 color photographs
Countryman Press
|
9781581574289
|
Print book
The Last Diving Horse in America
By Branigan, Cynthia A.
.It was the signature attraction of Atlantic City's Steel Pier from the 1930s to the 1970s, the golden age of "America's Favorite Playground"--Doc Carver's High Diving Horses. Four times a day, seven days a week, a trained horse wearing only a harness ran up a ramp; a diving girl jumped on its back, and both sailed forty feet through the air, plunging into a ten foot deep tank of water.Decades later, after cries of animal abuse, and changing times, the act was finally shuttered and the very Last Atlantic City Steel Pier Diving Horse was on the auction block. The author, on a rescue mission for her employer, animal rights pioneer Cleveland Amory, and $2,600 later spent in a fierce auction, Gamal, gleaming coated, commanding, was hers: she who knew almost nothing about horses.
Pantheon
|
9781101871959
|
Hardcover
National Audubon Society Trees of North America
By Society, National Audubon
This handsome volume is the result of a collaboration among leading scientists, scholars, taxonomic and field experts, photo editors, and designers. An indispensable reference, it covers more than 540 species, with nearly 2,500 full-color photographs--including images of the bark, fruit, and flowers, as well as photos that illustrate leaf shape and seasonal color changes. For ease of use, the book includes a glossary, a robust index, and a ribbon marker, and is arranged according to the latest Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification system--with trees sorted by taxonomic orders and grouped by family, so that related species are presented together. Readers will appreciate the crisp detail of the photographs; range maps (reflecting the impact of climate change) ; physical descriptions; and information on fruit, habitat, uses, and similar species.
Knopf
|
9780525655718
|
Hardcover
Forest Walking
By Wohlleben, Peter
Awaken your senses and learn how to be a forest detective - with Peter Wohlleben, New York Times-bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees."This book will fast-track you into the joys of spending time amongst the trees." - Tristan Gooley, author of The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs and How to Read Water"You'll be changed after reading this fine and enchanting book." - Richard Louv, author of Our Wild Calling and Last Child in the WoodsWhen you walk in the woods, do you use all five senses to explore your surroundings? For most of us, the answer is no - but when we do, a walk in the woods can go from pleasant to immersive and restorative. Forest Walking teaches you how to get the most out of your next adventure by becoming a forest detective, decoding nature's signs and awakening to the ancient past and thrilling present of the ecosystem around you.
ā€ˇGreystone Books
|
9781771643313
|
Paperback
The Secret Language of Cats
By Tz, Susanne Sch
Have you ever wondered what your cat is saying Cats do not meow randomly, nor do they growl or hiss because they have nothing better to do. Cat sounds have a purpose, and they can carry important messages, whether for us or other cats.Susanne Schtz is hard at work on breaking the cat code. She is a professor at Lund University in Sweden, where a long-standing research program is proving that cats do actually use vocal communication - with each other and with their human caretakers. Understanding the vocal strategies used in human-cat communication will have profound implications for how we communicate with our pets, and has the potential to improve the relationship between animals and humans within several fields, including animal therapy, veterinary medicine and animal sheltering.
Hanover Square Press
|
9781335013897
|
Hardcover
H Is for Hawk
By Macdonald, Helen
One of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the YearON MORE THAN 25 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR LISTS: including TIME (#1 Nonfiction Book) , NPR, O, The Oprah Magazine (10 Favorite Books) , Vogue (Top 10) , Vanity Fair, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, San Francisco Chronicle (Top 10) , Miami Herald, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Minneapolis Star Tribune (Top 10) , Library Journal (Top 10) , Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Slate, Shelf Awareness, Book Riot, Amazon (Top 20) The instant New York Times bestseller and award-winning sensation, Helen Macdonald's story of adopting and raising one of nature's most vicious predators has soared into the hearts of millions of readers worldwide. Fierce and feral, her goshawk Mabel's temperament mirrors Helen's own state of grief after her father's death, and together raptor and human "discover the pain and beauty of being alive" (People) . H Is for Hawk is a genre-defying debut from one of our most unique and transcendent voices.
Grove Press
|
9780802123411
|
Print book
American Wolf
By Blakeslee, Nate
The enthralling story of the rise and reign of O-Six, the celebrated Yellowstone wolf, and the people who loved or feared her Before men ruled the earth, there were wolves. Once abundant in North America, these majestic creatures were hunted to near extinction in the lower 48 states by the 1920s. But in recent decades, conservationists have brought wolves back to the Rockies, igniting a battle over the very soul of the West. With novelistic detail, Nate Blakeslee tells the gripping story of one of these wolves, O-Six, a charismatic alpha female named for the year of her birth. Uncommonly powerful, with gray fur and faint black ovals around each eye, O-Six is a kind and merciful leader, a fiercely intelligent fighter, and a doting mother. She is beloved by wolf watchers, particularly renowned naturalist Rick McIntyre, and becomes something of a social media star, with followers around the world. But as she raises her pups and protects her pack, O-Six is challenged on all fronts: by hunters, who compete with wolves for the elk they both prize; by cattle ranchers who are losing livestock and have the ear of politicians; and by other Yellowstone wolves who are vying for control of the park's stunningly beautiful Lamar Valley. These forces collide in American Wolf, a riveting multigenerational saga of hardship and triumph that tells a larger story about the ongoing cultural clash in the West - between those fighting for a vanishing way of life and those committed to restoring one of the country's most iconic landscapes.
Crown
|
9781101902783
|
Hardcover
In the Heart of the Sea
By Philbrick, Nathaniel
From the New York Times bestselling author of Valiant Ambition and In the Hurricanes Eye, the riveting and critically acclaimed bestseller and a major motion picture starring Chris Hemsworth, directed by Ron Howard "With its huge, scarred head halfway out of the water and its tail beating the ocean into a white-water wake more than forty feet across, the whale approached the ship at twice its original speed--at least six knots. With a tremendous cracking and splintering of oak, it struck the ship just beneath the anchor secured at the cat-head on the port bow. . ."In the Heart of the Sea brings to new life the incredible story of the wreck of the whaleship Essex--an event as mythic in its own century as the Titanic disaster in ours, and the inspiration for the climax of Moby-Dick. In a harrowing page-turner, Nathaniel Philbrick restores this epic story to its rightful place in American history.In 1820, the 240-ton Essex set sail from Nantucket on a routine voyage for whales. Fifteen months later, in the farthest reaches of the South Pacific, it was repeatedly rammed and sunk by an eighty-ton bull sperm whale. Its twenty-man crew, fearing cannibals on the islands to the west, made for the 3,000-mile-distant coast of South America in three tiny boats. During ninety days at sea under horrendous conditions, the survivors clung to life as one by one, they succumbed to hunger, thirst, disease, and fear.In the Heart of the Sea tells perhaps the greatest sea story ever. Philbrick interweaves his account of this extraordinary ordeal of ordinary men with a wealth of whale lore and with a brilliantly detailed portrait of the lost, unique community of Nantucket whalers. Impeccably researched and beautifully told, the book delivers the ultimate portrait of man against nature, drawing on a remarkable range of archival and modern sources, including a long-lost account by the ships cabin boy. At once a literary companion and a page-turner that speaks to the same issues of class, race, and mans relationship to nature that permeate the works of Melville, In the Heart of the Sea will endure as a vital work of American history.
A Feathered River Across the Sky
By Greenberg, Joel
In the early nineteenth century 25 to 40 percent of North America's birds were passenger pigeons, traveling in flocks so massive as to block out the sun for hours or even days. The down beats of their wings would chill the air beneath and create a thundering roar that would drown out all other sound. Feeding flocks would appear as "a blue wave four or five feet high rolling toward you."John James Audubon, impressed by their speed and agility, said a lone passenger pigeon streaking through the forest "passes like a thought." How prophetic--for although a billion pigeons crossed the skies 80 miles from Toronto in May of 1860, little more than fifty years later passenger pigeons were extinct. The last of the species, Martha, died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo on September 1, 1914.
A Wolf Called Romeo
By Jans, Nick
The unlikely true story of a six-year friendship between a wild, oddly gentle black wolf and the people and dogs of Juneau, Alaska No stranger to wildlife, Nick Jans had lived in Alaska for nearly thirty years. But when one evening at twilight a lone black wolf ambled into view not far from his doorstep, Nick would finally come to know this mystical speciesup close as never before. A Wolf Called Romeo is the remarkable story of a wolf who returned again and again to interact with the people and dogs of Juneau, living on the edges of their community, engaging in an improbable, awe-inspiring interspecies dance and bringing the wild into sharp focus. At first the people of Juneau were guarded, torn between shoot first, ask questions later instincts and curiosity.
Poetry from Scratch
By Mccartney, Jennifer
The newest entry in the feline literary canon is here ... so pee on this, cat poet wannabes Hipster cats, stay-at-home-mom cats, windowsill cats, and outdoor cats -- you'll find them all here, immortalized in prose about, for, and sometimes by, cats. With a Brooklyn edge, author Jennifer McCartney ups the cool quotient on this burgeoning genre.Of Mice and MenThere once was a cat who loved booksHe liked bookshelves that had lots of nooksHe thought especially niceThe tomes about miceOne page and the kitty was hooked From limericks to beat poems, haikus to sonnets, riffs on famous verse to original blank verse, there is something here for every cat lover to enjoy. 50 color photographs
The Last Diving Horse in America
By Branigan, Cynthia A.
.It was the signature attraction of Atlantic City's Steel Pier from the 1930s to the 1970s, the golden age of "America's Favorite Playground"--Doc Carver's High Diving Horses. Four times a day, seven days a week, a trained horse wearing only a harness ran up a ramp; a diving girl jumped on its back, and both sailed forty feet through the air, plunging into a ten foot deep tank of water.Decades later, after cries of animal abuse, and changing times, the act was finally shuttered and the very Last Atlantic City Steel Pier Diving Horse was on the auction block. The author, on a rescue mission for her employer, animal rights pioneer Cleveland Amory, and $2,600 later spent in a fierce auction, Gamal, gleaming coated, commanding, was hers: she who knew almost nothing about horses.
National Audubon Society Trees of North America
By Society, National Audubon
This handsome volume is the result of a collaboration among leading scientists, scholars, taxonomic and field experts, photo editors, and designers. An indispensable reference, it covers more than 540 species, with nearly 2,500 full-color photographs--including images of the bark, fruit, and flowers, as well as photos that illustrate leaf shape and seasonal color changes. For ease of use, the book includes a glossary, a robust index, and a ribbon marker, and is arranged according to the latest Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification system--with trees sorted by taxonomic orders and grouped by family, so that related species are presented together. Readers will appreciate the crisp detail of the photographs; range maps (reflecting the impact of climate change) ; physical descriptions; and information on fruit, habitat, uses, and similar species.
Forest Walking
By Wohlleben, Peter
Awaken your senses and learn how to be a forest detective - with Peter Wohlleben, New York Times-bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees."This book will fast-track you into the joys of spending time amongst the trees." - Tristan Gooley, author of The Lost Art of Reading Nature's Signs and How to Read Water"You'll be changed after reading this fine and enchanting book." - Richard Louv, author of Our Wild Calling and Last Child in the WoodsWhen you walk in the woods, do you use all five senses to explore your surroundings? For most of us, the answer is no - but when we do, a walk in the woods can go from pleasant to immersive and restorative. Forest Walking teaches you how to get the most out of your next adventure by becoming a forest detective, decoding nature's signs and awakening to the ancient past and thrilling present of the ecosystem around you.
The Secret Language of Cats
By Tz, Susanne Sch
Have you ever wondered what your cat is saying Cats do not meow randomly, nor do they growl or hiss because they have nothing better to do. Cat sounds have a purpose, and they can carry important messages, whether for us or other cats.Susanne Schtz is hard at work on breaking the cat code. She is a professor at Lund University in Sweden, where a long-standing research program is proving that cats do actually use vocal communication - with each other and with their human caretakers. Understanding the vocal strategies used in human-cat communication will have profound implications for how we communicate with our pets, and has the potential to improve the relationship between animals and humans within several fields, including animal therapy, veterinary medicine and animal sheltering.
H Is for Hawk
By Macdonald, Helen
One of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the YearON MORE THAN 25 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR LISTS: including TIME (#1 Nonfiction Book) , NPR, O, The Oprah Magazine (10 Favorite Books) , Vogue (Top 10) , Vanity Fair, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, San Francisco Chronicle (Top 10) , Miami Herald, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Minneapolis Star Tribune (Top 10) , Library Journal (Top 10) , Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Slate, Shelf Awareness, Book Riot, Amazon (Top 20) The instant New York Times bestseller and award-winning sensation, Helen Macdonald's story of adopting and raising one of nature's most vicious predators has soared into the hearts of millions of readers worldwide. Fierce and feral, her goshawk Mabel's temperament mirrors Helen's own state of grief after her father's death, and together raptor and human "discover the pain and beauty of being alive" (People) . H Is for Hawk is a genre-defying debut from one of our most unique and transcendent voices.
American Wolf
By Blakeslee, Nate
The enthralling story of the rise and reign of O-Six, the celebrated Yellowstone wolf, and the people who loved or feared her Before men ruled the earth, there were wolves. Once abundant in North America, these majestic creatures were hunted to near extinction in the lower 48 states by the 1920s. But in recent decades, conservationists have brought wolves back to the Rockies, igniting a battle over the very soul of the West. With novelistic detail, Nate Blakeslee tells the gripping story of one of these wolves, O-Six, a charismatic alpha female named for the year of her birth. Uncommonly powerful, with gray fur and faint black ovals around each eye, O-Six is a kind and merciful leader, a fiercely intelligent fighter, and a doting mother. She is beloved by wolf watchers, particularly renowned naturalist Rick McIntyre, and becomes something of a social media star, with followers around the world. But as she raises her pups and protects her pack, O-Six is challenged on all fronts: by hunters, who compete with wolves for the elk they both prize; by cattle ranchers who are losing livestock and have the ear of politicians; and by other Yellowstone wolves who are vying for control of the park's stunningly beautiful Lamar Valley. These forces collide in American Wolf, a riveting multigenerational saga of hardship and triumph that tells a larger story about the ongoing cultural clash in the West - between those fighting for a vanishing way of life and those committed to restoring one of the country's most iconic landscapes.
In the Heart of the Sea
By Philbrick, Nathaniel
From the New York Times bestselling author of Valiant Ambition and In the Hurricanes Eye, the riveting and critically acclaimed bestseller and a major motion picture starring Chris Hemsworth, directed by Ron Howard "With its huge, scarred head halfway out of the water and its tail beating the ocean into a white-water wake more than forty feet across, the whale approached the ship at twice its original speed--at least six knots. With a tremendous cracking and splintering of oak, it struck the ship just beneath the anchor secured at the cat-head on the port bow. . ."In the Heart of the Sea brings to new life the incredible story of the wreck of the whaleship Essex--an event as mythic in its own century as the Titanic disaster in ours, and the inspiration for the climax of Moby-Dick. In a harrowing page-turner, Nathaniel Philbrick restores this epic story to its rightful place in American history.In 1820, the 240-ton Essex set sail from Nantucket on a routine voyage for whales. Fifteen months later, in the farthest reaches of the South Pacific, it was repeatedly rammed and sunk by an eighty-ton bull sperm whale. Its twenty-man crew, fearing cannibals on the islands to the west, made for the 3,000-mile-distant coast of South America in three tiny boats. During ninety days at sea under horrendous conditions, the survivors clung to life as one by one, they succumbed to hunger, thirst, disease, and fear.In the Heart of the Sea tells perhaps the greatest sea story ever. Philbrick interweaves his account of this extraordinary ordeal of ordinary men with a wealth of whale lore and with a brilliantly detailed portrait of the lost, unique community of Nantucket whalers. Impeccably researched and beautifully told, the book delivers the ultimate portrait of man against nature, drawing on a remarkable range of archival and modern sources, including a long-lost account by the ships cabin boy. At once a literary companion and a page-turner that speaks to the same issues of class, race, and mans relationship to nature that permeate the works of Melville, In the Heart of the Sea will endure as a vital work of American history.