The Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture

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The Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K6Q8H8

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The Tribe of the Tiger: Cats and Their Culture

Insights into human/cat interactions, beautifully written

The Circus culture

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Misled by Cover Photo...

The Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas , and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cats | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Cats, Lions & Tigers | Animals | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
Mammals | Zoology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Veterinary Medicine | Medicine | Subjects | Books
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Book Description

From the plains of Africa to her very own backyard, noted author and anthropologist Elizabeth Marshall Thomas explores the world of cats, both large and small in this classic bestseller. Inspired by her own feline's instinct to hunt and supported by her studies abroad, Thomas examines the life actions, as well as the similarities and differences of these majestic creatures. Lions, tigers, pumas and housecats: Her observations shed light on their social lives, thought processes, eating habits, and communication techniques, and reveal how they survive and coexist with each other and with humans.

Customer Reviews:

The Tribe of the Tiger: Cats and Their Culture.......2007-09-07

This is the SEVENTH copy The Tribe of the Tiger's I have purchased-simply because my friends "borrow" my copy and then pass it along to their other friends who are interested in cats. Needless to say, it is cheaper buying another copy than hiring a "Private Eye" trying to locate another "traveling copy" of TTCTC. "Set my borrowed copy free-and educate the world about felines"-CJC

Normally I would be angry, I am taking the time to order to order copy number 7-but this visit, I took more time by adding a review because this read is worth it. I wonder if I should face the facts, and just start a "give away" book club-for THIS TITLE book only.

Tribe is not only one of the best for information about cats, BUT-is a "hot item" when it is discovered by readers. (Don't lend your copy out if you really intend on keeping it-for rereading.)

This time I ordered 2 copies, so I could "borrow out" one-while holding on to a "house copy". Maybe this way I can refrain from ordering another for a few months. OR MAYBE (wishful thinking) a borrower will actually RETURN any one of my formely lent copies. NAH, that ain't going to happen.

If you are truly interested in more than how to take care of your pet, love to be able to "speak in feline body language" or want to understand life through your cats eyes-THIS is the book.

No magical mystical wonderments-offered inside, just common sense and great thinking. If your set of beliefs include "mystical junk" about your cat-you may want to educate yourself-into the real world by reading this book. I promise you your cat WILL a better life because you have taken the time to learn from this book.

Insights into human/cat interactions, beautifully written.......2004-04-03

This is without doubt one of the best books on animal behavior I have ever read. What Thomas does that others do not (and often cannot) is three-fold:

First, using her long experience with animals both domestic and wild, she INTERPRETS their behavior from her observations. Most of us do that, but scientists in general do not. They cannot because such interpretations, unless established scientifically, would be labeled "anthropomorphic," and prove dangerous to their careers. You and I interpret the behavior of our animals, but most of us have only a small fraction of the experience that Elizabeth Thomas has. She has spent decades in the wild, especially in Africa, studying animals and their interactions with humans.

This interaction between humans and their way of seeing the world and that of cats and their way of seeing the world--our differing "cultures" as Thomas rightly uses the term--is the second thing she does so very well. Her stories about how the Ju/wasi people, for example, treat lions and how the lions treat them--with mutual respect--and how that differs from the way non-indigenous people treat lions is just fascinating to read. She describes the Ju/wasi talking to a couple of lions, telling them firmly and politely that a certain fallen wildebeest was theirs and that the lions should leave. After listening, the lions left. (p.118) And how the Ju/wasi behaved if by chance they should come upon a lion in the wild: the person would take an oblique angle away from the lion and walk with purpose, keeping the lion in sight but not staring. Thomas discovered that a lion meeting people sometimes would do the same!

The third thing that Thomas does extraordinary well is to use her novelist's sense of description and IMAGINE how the cat is feeling. She writes beautifully with love and understanding, but without mawkish intent or any phony sentimentality. Here's an example:

"Even people with very inconspicuous disabilities are quickly zeroed in on by cats...the entering tigers stopped...to stare...at someone they had spotted deep in the [amphitheater] crowd. Following their gaze I finally found what they had noticed immediately: a child with Down's syndrome sitting quietly and (to me) inconspicuously amid his family." (p. 123)

If you limp by a caged carnivore, a wolf or a leopard, say, your limping will excite the animal because an injured or disabled animal is its best prey. As Thomas explains, carnivores want to obtain their meals with as little risk of injury to themselves as possible because any injury in the wild can prove fatal.

Here's Thomas on the roaring of lions: "At about ten o'clock that night a lioness suddenly appeared between the two camps and began to roar. The loudness of lions cannot be described or imagined but must be experienced. My body was so filled with the sound that I couldn't think or breathe, and in the brief silences between the roars my ears rang." (p. 135)

She goes on to speculate later in the book that lions may use their roars to frighten and flush out their prey.

On page 161 Thomas describes exchanging yawns with a lioness lying by a water hole. Thomas yawned and then, "To my amazement, without taking her eyes off me she also yawned. Was it coincidence...Was it empathy? Fascinated I deliberately yawned again. She yawned again!"

I've had similar experiences with cats. A yawn is a signal that they are comfortable with your presence. Domestic cats in the yard will also turn their back on you as they lie on their side to signal that they are comfortable with your presence.

I always wondered about water holes on the savannas in Africa. How could the various animals come to drink in safety, and how did they manage to avoid one another? Thomas gives a convincing explanation. The lions, who are most active at night, come in the night to drink. During the heat of the day prey animals come when the lions are resting. And of course the humans wait until the sun is fully up before approaching. When the elephants come, the lions leave. Interestingly enough, Thomas claims that lions will not spoil the water hole with their scat.

Thomas's skill as a novelist shows in this passage. She is describing her friend Katharine Payne's experience with a lion that she had spotted just a few feet away as she lay in her sleeping bag: "He looked and looked at Katy. She looked and looked at him, hearing the wet noises of him swallowing his saliva and settling his tongue. He was thinking of eating. Cats are famous for their patience--the big lion watched Katy while the moon slowly rose behind him...The lion continued to think of eating. Eventually, he drooled." (p. 162)

One of the points that Thomas makes in this book is that all cats, from four hundred pound lions to our house cats, have much in common. Our domestic little kitties are more social than we think, and their hunting instincts are just as savage as those of a leopard. And yes lions purr.

She also claims that tigers are better off in circuses than in zoos mainly because they engage in regular activity that stimulates them, and that they enjoy their interactions with their trainers. She makes a convincing argument, and yet we must have zoos because without them most of us could not see these magnificent creatures; and indeed someday sadly zoos will be their only home. Maybe what is needed are zookeepers who know the culture of their animals well enough to provide them with something more than meat and boredom.

It is wonderful how Thomas becomes, for the purpose of this book, the animals she describes. Here she describes a lioness observing cattle: "One whiff of that dizzying, grassy scent would have set a lion's mouth watering." (pp. 181-182)

The Circus culture.......2004-02-16

I spend a lot of time in India and am very knowledgeable about tigers. I was absolutely amazed to read that Ms Thomas thought it perfectly acceptable for tigers to be kept in tiny cages, and dragged around America only to emerge in a circus ring and then be put back in a cage. Ms Thomas seems to think this a wonderful life guaranteed to keep tigers alert and happy, and reccomends the practice continue. She even sings the praises of John Cuneo who breeds tigers for circuses in the US and is currently being prosecuted for animal cruelty.
On the tiger in a circus: Ôthe owners live in small trailers and tigers live in travellin cages on wheels, each cage about twice the length of the tiger who inhabits it. Sometimes nothing beteter than a large tarp or the edge of a circus tent shelters these little groups of people and tigers just barely protecting them from wind sun & rainÕ

The tiger is a top predator, it is extremely intelligent and built to hunt. That is its raison d'etre.

Even when not hunting a tiger will prowl may be 15 miles a night.
They spend 2 years teaching their cubs to hunt.
If Ms Thomas seriously think that learning a few miserable tricks to perform in a ring, keep an animal such as this stimulated and happy, she clearly has no knowledge of tigers at all and frankly makes one wonder what if anything else she writes about in the book has any validity.

If you are interested in tigers, don't buy this ridiculous book buy anything by Valmik Thapar, a man who really does know about this majestic predator.

Skip it.......2003-12-31

I think her dog book was good cuz she's a dog person. She's not a cat person, and it shows.

Misled by Cover Photo..........2003-02-28

I generally liked her other book, the Social Lives of Dogs, and in fact read it twice over the course of the previous year. I felt as though I learned a lot about canine behavior and their social organization. This book however was a terrible disappointment for me. I checked it out of the library after giving one as a gift to a friend, only to find that there was very little written about house cats (my primary interest), and all the talk of big cats and anecdotes from the author's many years in Africa seemed indulgent and not even terribly insightful for those interested in these topics.

I'd urge you to look for a copy in your local library or bookstore and scan through it before commitment to the cover price.

The Tribe of the Tiger:Cats and Their Culture

Average customer rating:

The Tribe of the Tiger:Cats and Their Culture
Elizabeth M. Thomas
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QY9L4G

The Tribe of Tiger. Cats and Their Culture.

Average customer rating:

The Tribe of Tiger. Cats and Their Culture.

Manufacturer: Simon and Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I33V7I

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The Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture
Elizabeth M. Thomas
Manufacturer: G. K. Hall & Co./Simon & Schuster Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O8CQXC

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The Tribe of the Tiger: Cats and Their Culture
Elizabeth M. Thomas
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NWJGFA

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The Tribe of Tiger - Cats and Their Culture

Manufacturer: Recorded Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: 0788701916

Product Description

Anyone who has incurred the displeasure of a cat is well familiar with the differences between the intuitive feline and the average lumpish canine. In her latest animal exposé Elizabeth Marshall Thomas has concentrated her studied eye on the varied family of cats. With respect for individuality and an anthropologists eye for cultural patterns, she brings listeners an understanding of the feline personality to its basic elementthe pursuit of prey.

Tribe of Tiger, The : Cats and Their Culture

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Tribe of Tiger, The : Cats and Their Culture
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
Manufacturer: Simon and Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O6B8PG

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The TRIBE Of TIGER. Cats and Their Culture.
Elizabeth Marshall. Thomas
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NYCYHA

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Tribe of Tiger: Cats and Their Culture
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSXS2U

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To be used for many years

Great Sports Reference Book

Rules Of The Game: The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of All the Sports of the World
Diagram Group
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Sports | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
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Book Description

Rules of the Game is a complete guide book to the rules for over 150 different sports. The aim of this book is to assist the reader in understanding the world's major sports-increasing his or her enjoyment as a spectator or a player. The step-by-step drawings provide a perfect visual aide for novices and sports aficionados alike.

Customer Reviews:

To be used for many years.......2005-12-05

I had a version of this same book when I was a kid, and remember pouring over the pages for hours on end. It opened my eyes to so many wonderful sports, that might not necessarily be popular or common in the US. To this day, I still browse through it when I visit my parents house. This is a truly timeless book, that can be passed down through generations.

Great Sports Reference Book.......2000-06-14

When I first viewed this book in my local library, I was captivated for hours. The wealth of information that can be found in this book is excellent. I've seen some unusual games before on television, but never fully understood the basic rules and what is involved.

This book explains and illustrates (very well) the basics of many professional and amateur games that are played in the world.

I once used this book to create a game that would be easy to play and where no one would get hurt. This book helped, and now the young kids in my family use it make up new games. We combine the balls and rules of many games into one.

If you love sports, or you are new to sports, this book will be of help to you.

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Rules of the Game. The complete illustrated encyclopedia of all the sports of the world.
Diagram Group
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VH84Q4

Product Description

320pp. incl. index. Col. and b/w illus.

Rules of the Game: The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of All the Sports of the World

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Rules of the Game: The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of All the Sports of the World
Diagram Group
Manufacturer: Paddington Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Rules of the Game: The complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of all the Sports of the World
Jack Wilkinson
Manufacturer: Diagram Visual Information, Ltd.
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Binding: Paperback
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Rules of the Game (The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of All the Sports of the World)
Diagram Group
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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RULES OF THE GAME THE COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ALL THE SPORTS OF THE WORLD
Diagram Group
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Book Description

Current research increasingly highlights the role of early literacy in young children's development--and facilitates the growth of practices and policies that promote success among diverse learners. The Handbook of Early Literacy Research presents cutting-edge knowledge on all aspects of literacy learning in the early years. Volume 2 provides additional perspectives on important topics covered in Volume 1 and addresses critical new topics: the transition to school, the teacher-child relationship, sociodramatic play, vocabulary development, neural imaging work, Vygotskian theory, findings from international studies, and more.

Customer Reviews:

Handbook of Early Literacy Research, V2.......2007-09-02

I received this product in great shape and in a very short amount of time.

Wonderful Reference Book.......2006-02-24

This book is an excellent reference, with up to date research results pertaining to the area of early literacy, by authors who are specialists in their field. While many research books are difficult to read unless you have the technical background to understand typical research jargon, this book is easy reading, with fascinating topics for those in the field of early childhood education. The topics are current, with a focus on what the burning issues are today. I have to admit, this is one of the best research books I have purchased in a long time. I would highly recommend this book.

Customer Reviews:

5ht grade Teacher--My class loved it!.......2007-07-28

Excellent class novel. Full of adventure and appeals to all kids who love to imagine having a wild animal as a pet. This book is a jewel.

A great surviver story.......2002-11-14

One of the best books I have read in the past year has to be "The Ice burg Hermit, by Arthur Roth. It is a marvelous book about a man who finds a way to survive in the cold. One of the major reasons I enjoyed this book so much is that it is full of action . The ice berg hermit is trying to survive in the cold depths of the seas. Another reason I enjoy this book and found this book to be so wonderful but suspenseful. He fights polar bears and you never know when a polar bear comes to kill Allen. Of course my favorite reason for having this book is, that it is full of action. The best action part in the book is when he tries to swing to the iceberg to save his life and almost dies. As for as I am concerned Author Roth hit the nail on the head of this book

Must-Read.......2001-12-09

I had a very smart and very good teacher in grade school. We had to read a certain amount of books each year, and some we HAD to read as a class so we could discuss them. The Iceberg Hermit was one of them, and I have to say that it was one of my favorites of the must-read stories we had to pick from, right up there with Bridge to Terabithia, Tuck Everlasting, Mrs. Mike and Where the Red Fern Grows.

I had lost my copy years ago, but thought of it again recently. So I was pleasantly surprised that it was still in print. I remember how my imagination soared, trying to picture the main character stranded in the middle of nowhere. I was transported to another place and time, and 20 years after reading the book, I can still remember it vividly. If you are looking for some good reading material for your children, this will NOT disappoint.

cool book.......2001-09-25

I liked this book alot because in the most unthinkable ways Alan overcomes many ordeals and ends up surviving the arctic cold on an iceberg. In many cases Alan is almost killed and eaten by polar bears. I enjoyed the aurthers vivid discription of the land, and climate, and how the charehter feels in the story. In many ways I think this book is non-fiction because Alan keeps a pet polar bear. I recomend this book to all outher readers.

The book that will change the way you think of survial........2001-05-23

This book is the best survial book I've ever read. It's one of those books you never want to put down.From the beginning when the ship wrecks to the end there's nothing but excitment all the way though.This book will show you yhat no matter what happenes if you want to survive you will- no matter the odds. So take it from me,this an awesome book any day.

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The Iceberg Hermit
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Manufacturer: Scholastic Book Services
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The Iceberg Hermit
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