But as animals can only be spied on by getting quite close, Heinrich adopts ravens, thereby becoming a 'raven father,' as well as observing them in their natural habitat.
Winner of the 2000 John Burroughs Medal for Natural History Writingįrom the book jacket: "Heinrich involves us in his quest to get inside the mind of the raven. (Jan.MIND OF THE RAVEN: INVESTIGATIONS AND ADVENTURES WITH WOLF-BIRDS ( 380 pp., Harper Collins,1999)
Nature lovers will delight in this lively, fascinating study. Throughout the book, Heinrich returns to the example of the mysterious golden-crowned kinglet, a bird whose tiny body-not much bigger than a walnut-loses heat so quickly that it seems to defy the rules of winter survival, and whose perseverance symbolizes the improbable, miraculous feats of endurance of all the animals of the north. No-it was four!"), and he reflects on such subjects as the ethics of hunting and the implications of animal survival strategies-particularly the bear's ability to stay in shape without exercise-for human health. After I started to climb the tree I saw three One flying squirrel with huge black eyes and soft gray pelage popped its head out. The narrative is full of exuberant first-person observations from Heinrich's walks through the Maine and Vermont woods ("I hit the tree with an ax.
He shows how bears endure months of hibernation without losing muscle mass or bone density, how an air-breathing snapping turtle survives six months at the bottom of a frozen pond and how honeybees keep the temperature in their hives at a balmy 36 degrees Celsius no matter how cold it is outside. In short, dense, lucid chapters that will intrigue both natural history buffs and neophytes, Heinrich discusses the survival strategies-such as hibernation and nest building-of mammals, birds and reptiles. How do bears, bees, frogs and other creatures stay alive in a barren, subzero landscape? A veteran natural history author and University of Vermont biology professor, Heinrich ( Mind of the Raven) uses the New England winter as a laboratory for investigating the adaptability and evolution of animals.
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