Archives de catégorie : Animals

OF TIME AND TURTLES de Sy Montgomery, illustré par Matt Patterson

From National Book Award finalist for The Soul of an Octopus and New York Times bestseller Sy Montgomery comes an ode to one of the most diverse, fascinating, and beloved species on the planet: turtles. With elegance, journalistic curiosity, and gorgeous artwork, this nonfiction investigation speaks to the wonder and wisdom of our long-lived cohabitants, who reveal to us astonishing new perspectives on time and healing.

OF TIME AND TURTLES:
Mending a Stalled and Broken World, Shell by Shattered Shell
by Sy Montgomery
illustrated by Matt Patterson
Mariner/HarperCollins, September 2023

When acclaimed naturalist Sy Montgomery and wildlife artist Matt Patterson arrive at Turtle Rescue League, they are greeted by hundreds of turtles recovering from injury and illness. Endangered by cars and highways, pollution and poachers, these turtles—with wounds so severe that even veterinarians would have dismissed them as fatal—are given a second chance at life. The League’s founders, Natasha and Alexxia, live by one motto: Never give up on a turtle.
But why turtles? What is it about them that inspires such devotion? Ancient and unhurried, long-lived and majestic, their lineage stretches back to the time of the dinosaurs. Some live to two hundred years, or longer. Others spend months buried under cold winter water. Sy turns to these little understood yet endlessly surprising creatures to probe the eternal question: How can we make peace with our time?
In pursuit of the answer, Sy and Matt immerse themselves in the delicate work of protecting turtle nests, incubating eggs, rescuing sea turtles, and releasing hatchlings to their homes in the wild. We follow the snapping turtle Fire Chief on his astonishing journey as he battles against injuries incurred by a truck.
Hopeful and optimistic, OF TIME AND TURTLES is an antidote to the instability of our frenzied world. Elegantly blending science, memoir, philosophy, and drawing on cultures from across the globe, this compassionate portrait of injured turtles and their determined rescuers invites us all to slow down and slip into turtle time.
Includes a signature of photos of the cast (both turtles and humans) plus stunning, photo-realistic full color paintings by artist Matt Patterson.

Researching her articles, films, scripts, and 33 books, National Book Award finalist Sy Montgomery has scuba-dived with sharks, cuddled with octopuses, slept next to a mother hippo and her baby, and been undressed by a wild orangutan. To inform this book, she and artist Matt Patterson helped rescue cold-stunned sea turtles on Cape Cod, raised baby painted turtles for release into the wild, and provided physical therapy for an injured, 42-pound wild snapping turtle named Fire Chief. They still regularly patrol a nesting site for native New England turtles against predators and volunteer at Turtle Rescue League in southern Massachusetts.

BIG MEG de Tim & Emma Flannery

Professor Tim Flannery, and his daughter, Emma Flannery, bring the Megalodon to life in this fascinating and engaging natural history.

BIG MEG:
The Story of the Rise and Fall of the Largest and Most Mysterious Predator that Ever Lived
by Tim & Emma Flannery
Text Publishing, August 2023

Its name means giant tooth but everything about it is gigantic, including its pull on the human imagination. Tim and Emma Flannery’s BIG MEG will not only tell the story of the Megalodon, the Great Shark itself—what we know about where and how it lived, bred, hunted and died, a shark whose size and ferocity are the stuff of nightmares and whose teeth are probably the most sought after fossils in the world—but also how it continues to fascinate us.
The great shark, aka Otodus megalodon, the big meg, was the largest predator that ever stalked the planet weighing somewhere between fifty and 100 tonnes. We know that this leviathan was warm blooded, that it had the most powerful bite of any animal ever to have lived and that it could open that mighty jaw to a gape of three metres, wide enough to take a killer whale whole.
BIG MEG will be not only the biography of a phenomenal animal, but a compelling exploration of the role it plays in the popular imagination. The Megalodon might have been extinct for more than three million years but it flourishes in the stories we tell about it, in our hunt for its relics, and our quest to uncover more of the mystery surrounding it.

Tim Flannery is a scientist, an explorer, a conservationist and a leading writer on climate change. He has held various academic positions including visiting Professor in Evolutionary and Organismic Biology at Harvard University, Director of the South Australian Museum, Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Museum, Professorial Fellow at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne, and Panasonic Professor of Environmental Sustainability, Macquarie University. His books include the award-winning international bestseller The Weather Makers, Here on Earth, Atmosphere of Hope and Europe: The First 100 Million Years.

Emma Flannery is a scientist and writer. She has explored caves, forests and oceans across most of the globe’s continents in search of the elusive fossils, animals and plants. With postgraduate experience in geology, chemistry and palaeontology, Emma’s research and writing has been published in scientific journals, children’s books and a number of museum-based adult education tours. She has worked for and with universities, government agencies and museums.

IF NIETZCHE WERE A NARWHAL de Justin Gregg

Funny and counter-intuitive, IF NIETZSCHE WERE A NARWHAL reveals how human intelligence may actually be more of a liability than a gift, and how the animal kingdom, in all its diversity, gets by just fine without it.

IF NIETZCHE WERE A NARWHAL:
What Animal Intelligence Reveals About Human Stupidity
by Justin Gregg
Little, Brown, August 2022
(via Writers House)

At first glance, human history is full of remarkable feats of intelligence. We invented writing. Produced incredible achievements in music, the arts, and the sciences. We’ve built sprawling cities and traveled across oceans—and space—and expanded to every part of the globe.
Yet, human exceptionalism can be a double-edged sword. With our unique cognitive prowess comes severe consequences, including existential angst, violence, discrimination, and the creation of a world teetering towards climate catastrophe. Understood side-by-side, human exceptionalism begins to look more like a curse.
As scientist Justin Gregg persuasively argues, there’s an evolutionary reason why human intelligence isn’t more prevalent in the animal kingdom. Simply put, non-human animals don’t need it to be successful. And, miraculously, their success arrives without the added baggage of destroying themselves and the planet in the process.
In seven mind-bending and hilarious chapters, Gregg highlights one feature seemingly unique to humans—our use of language, our rationality, our moral systems, our so-called sophisticated consciousness—and compares it to our animal brethren. What emerges is both demystifying and remarkable, and will change how you look at animals, humans, and the meaning of life itself.
Destined to become a classic, IF NIETZSCHE WERE A NARWHAL asks whether we are in fact the superior species. It turns out, the truth is stranger—and far more interesting—than we have been led to believe.

Justin Gregg is a Senior Research Associate with the Dolphin Communication Project and an Adjunct Professor at St. Francis Xavier University where he lectures on animal behavior and cognition. Originally from Vermont, Justin studied the echolocation abilities of wild dolphins in Japan and The Bahamas. He currently lives in rural Nova Scotia where he writes about science and contemplates the inner lives of the crows that live near his home.

ABSCHIED VOM GELIEBTEN HUND de Elli H. Radinger

A heart-warming companion through grief and pain following the death of a beloved pet.

ABSCHIED VOM GELIEBTEN HUND
(Goodbye, Faithful Friend)
by Elli H. Radinger
Ludwig/PRH Verlagsgruppe, March 2022

When her Labrador Shira died and Elli Radinger spoke publicly about her grief, thousands got in touch with the well-known wolf and dog expert to tell her about their own old, sick or deceased pets, as well as their deep sadness, desperation, loneliness and helplessness – because those around us often don’t understand our pain. Radinger wants to help those who are affected by this, and give them the strength they need during this difficult time, whether they are caring for a dying dog, or grieving for one that has already passed away. Saying goodbye to your faithful friend doesn’t have to be just the end of something – it can also be a gift, and even bring forth something new.
Radinger shows us how to be strong and confident, as we bravely submit to our beloved dog’s farewell gift, and what we can learn from our pet’s final moments. A moving book for all those who want to help themselves and their pets to say goodbye, and a heart-warming companion through the grief and pain that follow the death of a pet – a book that will help you face life afterwards with renewed hope and confidence.

Elli H. Radinger, born in 1951, gave up her law career to devote herself entirely to her true passions: writing and wolves. Her books Die Weisheit der Wölfe, Die Weisheit alter Hunde and Das Geschenk der Wildnis are bestsellers and have been translated into numerous languages.