You Belong in a Zoo!: Tales from a Lifetime Spent with Cobras, Crocs, and Other Extraordinary Creatures

Book Description

From catching alligators in the reservoirs of New York and capturing giant crocodiles in Venezuela and giant frogs in West Africa to finding mummified human heads in a Bronx apartment, eels on a bus, cobras on the loose, and crocodiles that make change—a memoir of one man’s career working with exotic reptiles and other animals.

After the teenage Peter Brazaitis brought home one creepy crawly creature too many, his stepmother declared, “You are an animal, and you belong in a zoo!” He took her at her word. He went directly from high school in Brooklyn to a job at the Reptile House at the Bronx Zoo, where he stayed for more than thirty years, eventually becoming superintendent of reptiles. He later became curator of the Central Park Zoo, and continues to work with law enforcement as a forensic specialist in the fight to stop illegal importation and slaughter of reptiles for the luxury exotic-leather industry. (His effectiveness at this would earn him the moniker “The Bald-Headed Snake Keeper in the Bronx.”) You Belong in a Zoo! presents the amazing experiences Brazaitis has had in more than four decades of working with wild animals.

Enlightening, funny, and often outrageous, You Belong in a Zoo! is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at zoos, animal people, and some of nature’s most extraordinary creatures.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Fangtastic.......2005-12-20

As a child, Peter Brazaitis' stepmom told him "You belong in a zoo!" He decided she had a point.

This book is part biography, part recollection of interesting episodes in his career. Brazaitis went on to work at the Bronx Zoo and Central Park Zoo in New York, and his specialty is reptiles.

Many people find scaly animals to be scary or repulsive, but Brazaitis helps to bring some uunderstanding and fondness for them to the reader. He has a talent for storytelling. He raises the tension in a scary story about an escaped cobra. He transports you to a very different kind of society as he describes a trip to capturte goliath frogs in Africa. He brings insight into how zoos are run and how they've evolved. And more than once he gets a lot of chuckles from landmark human stupidity. (Such as the lawyer with a unique idea about the digestive + reproductive systems, or the true pinheads who seem to think venomous snakes make for interesting pets.)

If you're interested in animals, you'll find "You Belong in a Zoo!" to be an excellent read.

Great "Behind the Scenes" Account of Zookeeping.......2005-07-21

"You Belong in a Zoo" is Peter Brazaitis' tale of his storied career caring for and studying reptiles. Brazaitis' served as Superintendant of reptiles at the Bronx Zoo and as Curator of the Central Park Zoo, and has also acted as an advocate for endangered reptiles through his work to prevent the illegal importation and killing of these animals. Brazaitis of course has a wealth of stories to tell - some humorous, some frightening, and some a combination of the two. After describing 15 foot long King Cobras capable of rising to look a full grown man in the eye, Brazaitis relates the story of his attempt to capture one of these fascinating but deadly creatures by precariously balancing above a pool of crocodiles to reach the ceiling panel where the snake is hiding. Brazaitis' take on reptiles, and animals in general, is interesting. He obviously has a deep respect and admiration for animals, especially the reptiles he has spent a lifetime studying, but his view of animals seems different from that of some of the more radical animal rights activists. One could also argue that Brazaitis' work - especially his work with customs officials to stop the smugggling of endangered reptiles - has done more good than some of the antics of the more extreme members of PETA, for example. Brazaitis writes in an earnest style with some dry wit thrown in, and this style is quite effective in relating the story of his career. "You Belong In a Zoo" is an entertaining tale of reptiles and other animals, and an enjoyable autobiography of a man who has obviously "found his niche" in caring for these creatures.

Excellent Reading.......2004-02-27

This is a great book. I find myself laughing at times, grimacing at others.

The author has a great understanding of snakes and other reptiles. His respect for crocodiles comes across very clearly in this book. He also has a great understanding of human nature and some of the stories he tells are touching and sensitive. Others are hilarious and I laughed out loud while reading this book

The book is well written and enjoyable. It is easy to read and grabs you right from the opening pages. Even when he is lecturing to the reader or providing information, it is done in context and is very interesting.

Well worth every penny.
Enjoy.

Oh , yea! I am not finished with the book yet!.......2004-01-13

I am loving this book. I decided to come online in the midst of it and urge others to read it...and this is not a paid urging!!!I hate to see what I look like reading this book..I go from grimaces to smiles to shock to belly laughs...I at times find myself leaning back in my chair as a particular tale is taking hold of me! The information is astounding and the authors sympathy with snakes is heartwarming...truly!!! More...more...more!!!

Humor flavors an inspired and informative discourse.......2003-12-12

You Belong In A Zoo!: Tales From A Lifetime Spent With Cobras, Crocs And Other Creatures is the one-of-a-kind memoir of Peter Brazaitis, a man who dedicated his life to working with exotic reptiles and other animals, ranging from alligators in the reservoirs of Florida, to cobras on the loose, to capturing giant frogs in West Africa. A wry dash of humor flavors an inspired and informative discourse. You Belong In A Zoo! is a life story highly recommended to the attention of anyone with an interested in reptilian wildlife as a hobby or as a potential career.

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You Belong in a Zoo!: Tales from a Lifetime Spent with Cobras, Crocs, and Other Creatures
Peter Brazaitis
Manufacturer: Villard Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFSI82

Book Description

*90 color photos
* 8 x 11
* Patterns and recipes for 271 flies from 37 top innovators
* Profiles and photos of the tiers
* Flies for Atlantic and Pacific coasts, Mexico, the Caribbean

"An excellent addition to historical documentation of the sport."--Kathleen Achor, editor of The American Fly Fisher

On Michael Radencich's color plates of flies:
"I'm out of superlatives for his work."--Christopher Camuto, Gray's Sporting Journal, February 1998

This sumptuously illustrated reference is organized by tier, with background information on each expert's saltwater fishing experience and the development of his or her favorite patterns. Here in one volume are the most effective, innovative flies yet developed for salt water. Bob Veverka is a renowned fly tier and fly fisherman. Hailed by Trey Combs as "arguably the finest tier of full-dressed Atlantic Salmon flies in the world," he has turned his attention in recent years to the salt. He lives in Underhill, Vermont.

Customer Reviews:

A plethora of modern-day saltwater patterns.......2003-04-03

Highlighting favorite patterns of many of modern-day saltwater fly fishing's most influential tyers and fisherman, this is a book that any saltwater fly tyer can benefit from. Patterns presented are beautiful, effective, and wonderfully-imitative of many forage species preyed upon by any gamefish that resides in the salt. Some of the patterns are just incredible, and not too difficult to tie thanks to detailed recipes, and in many cases tying steps. I fly fish the length of the East Coast of the US, and can honestly say that this book is worth the money spent.

This book is the best fly tier's perspective ever!!!!.......1999-02-11

Innovative Saltwater Flies is superbly done. Veverka gathered the inputs of numerous talented tiers to develope a diverse view of saltwater fly patterns. The tiers provide autobiographies and the thought basis for their patterns. The artwork is incredible with color plates of the the patterns and beautiful sketches. It is one of the the finest fly pattern books ever made.

Backcountry Fly Fishing in Salt Water: An Innovative Guide to Some of the Finest and Most Interesting Fishing in Salt Water

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Backcountry Fly Fishing Primer
The best book on saltwater fly fishing

Backcountry Fly Fishing in Salt Water: An Innovative Guide to Some of the Finest and Most Interesting Fishing in Salt Water
Doug Swisher , and Carl Richards
Manufacturer: Lyons Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1558213287

Book Description

An innovative guide to the finest saltwater fishing in America.

Customer Reviews:

Backcountry Fly Fishing Primer.......2002-12-02

Great Book! Very informative.

The best book on saltwater fly fishing.......2002-11-25

This is simply the best book on backcountry flyfishing. It is packed with explanations of what you need to know to be a successful backcountry flyrodder, and how to do it. The section on flycasting is excellent.

Book Description

The Second Edition of Parliamo italiano! instills five core language skills by pairing cultural themes with essential grammar points. Students use culture—the geography, traditions, and history of Italy—to understand and master the language.

Unit Openers outline each section's theme, geographical focus, and communicative goals. Si dice così features provide a thematic presentation of vocabulary with directed and communicative activities. In altre parole offer up-to-date idioms and expressions, and Punit grammaticali cover grammar points. Lo sapevi che...? are cultural notes on concepts and places mentioned in the text.

The Immagini e parole, or capstone, contains a cultural reading related to the theme and region of Italy discussed in each unit.
The 60-minute Parliamo italiano! video features stunning, on-location footage of various cities and regions throughout Italy according to a story line corresponding to each unit's theme and geographic focus.

Customer Reviews:

How Not To Learn Another Language.......2006-02-05

This is the worst book I have ever used for learning Italian. Unfortunately, it is the core book for my uni course. The grammar explanations are awful and at times incomplete. The dialogues would be better off as a soap opera on T.V. The only slight advantage is that it has covered the passato remoto, la cordanza dei tempi (the more difficult stuff) by chapter 10. But what is the point in racing ahead with the grammar when listening, speaking and reading skills are being ignored.
I have been forced to use this book for almost 2 years, and I can barely say a sentence in the present tense even though we are in unit 12 grammar wise.
When I finish my semester at uni, before I go to Italy in October, I will be spending 5 months solid with a book from the BBC.

horrible for a beginner.......2004-09-26

Confusing approach; improper sequence to develop concepts & vocabulary. I had experience with conversational Italian and another college text but I am finding this book a nightmare. If you are unfortunate enough to have it as a class text; buy supplemental books (dictionary, grammar, verbs...even another text)and maybe some Pimsleur tapes since conversation skills are shortchanged in this tedious text.

This is a GREAT book to learn Italian........2004-02-17

I teach Italian at the undergraduate level and this book is excellent. Having used other textbooks in the past, I have seen the difference in how much and how quickly students learn from "Parliamo italiano". If you are using this book on your own, I would recommend that you work with a tutor. It is not impossible to work with it on your own but you have to plan the material very carefully beforehand and stick to your plan.

Just Plain Bad.......2002-12-21

Honestly, this was one of the worst aproaches to a language I have ever seen. The book is written completely out of order. It will not teach you how to speak Italian. At the most, you might learn how to write it... Poorly.

Good for conversation, weak on grammar.......2002-02-14

The focus is the spoken language, and it is effective. However, some of the instructions for the exercises (in Italian) are not very clear, and the grammar explanations (in English) are not adequate. (I purchased a concise grammar text to supplement this book.)

I like their casual approach to introducing new material (grammar & vocabulary) - new usages just pop into the dialogues and exercises occasionally in situations where the context helps clarify the usage. Soon after, the formal explanations are provided to help generalize. The approach helps prepare for real-life use of the language, in which a lot of new vocabulary and usage crops up.

Average customer rating:

self-learner

Good book for beginning Itaian classes

Parliamo Italiano!: A Communicative Approach
Suzanne Branciforte , and Brian Rea O'Connor
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Italian | Instruction | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
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Parliamo Italiano! A Communicative Approach (Second Edition)

Parliamo Italiano 3rd Ed

ASIN: 0395757681

Customer Reviews:

self-learner.......2002-07-12

Wonderful book for self study. Essential to get the CD and video. Would have liked an early chapter on pronuciation. Great visuals and dialogues. Molte bene!

Good book for beginning Itaian classes.......2000-07-20

We used this book in our level 1 and 2 Italian course (and I understand that it is also used in the streamlined Italian course at Harvard), and I found it quite good. Each chapter focuses on a particular aspect of life and a place in Italy (e.g. Chapter 3 is on the family and is set in Sicilia), and has several dialogs that serve to introduce words and phrases. Each section (4 sections to a chapter) has a vocabulary list, along with grammatical points and exercises.

The book introduces a lot of idiomatic expressions and phrases, which makes it easier for me to understand my italian friends. My professor pointed out, though, that the language used in the dialogs is not quite "authentic" -- maybe understandable since people usually use words that are unfit to print when they argue, and there are a LOT of arguments in the dialogs =)

The dialogs in the book do not have english translations. After the first few chapters, almost everything is in Italian, except for the grammar sections, which are always in English.

Grammar is pretty well covered. I did notice that the authors did not include the future anterior tense, and the conjugations for some irregular verbs (er, the verbs ending in -rre, I think).

A workbook can be purchased with the book. It was very useful for written practice, although the book by itself has a lot of exercises (both oral and written).

The tapes which go with the book (and which we used in our language lab) did not help a lot. The video, however, was VERY cool. It made me happy to find myself actually understanding the "real" italian spoken by the characters, who are touring Italy to write a travel guide. There's a love angle to the story (I could have sworn Piero and Gabriella were falling for each other!), but I didn't find the end of the story fulfilling. I certainly would have preferred to see them going out ;-)

The CD is dispensible. It basically contains a review of the Italian alphabet, a transcription of the dialogs in English and italian (with audio), some games based on the dialogs, and a way to compare your voice pattern with an Italian speaker. The games are very annoying though, since the questions tend to be of the fill-in-the-blank type, based *directly* on the dialogs.

In summary, this is a good book, although I think it is better suited for use in a classroom setting. The book is even more enjoyable with the video, so if you can somehow gain access to it, do watch.

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Parliamo Italiano! A Communicative Approach 3rd Edition
Suzanne Branciforte , and Anna Grassi
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

All Italian Books | Italian | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 0618812881

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Parliamo Italiano, A Communicative Approach - Third Edition - 2006
Suzanne Branciforte , and Anna Grassi
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000S2PWNK

Product Description

An 8"x10.25" hardcover - 509 pages. "A communicative, culture-based introductory Italian text, PARLIAMO ITALIANO! develops all five language skills by pairing cultural themes with essential grammar points and by organizing units around situations, functions, and regions of Italy. The authors' belief that 'language is culture' is best illustrated by the text's up-to-date, fresh image of Italy and Italians and by the authors' success in incorporating this belief as an active, key part of the learning experience. ISBN: 0618533052

Book Description

How does that work? Why? These fun science books answer kids_ questions about the world around them_and encourage them to ask more.

La Luz/Light: Sombras, Espejos Y Arco Iris/ Shadows, Mirrors, and Rainbows (Ciencia Asombrosa) (Ciencia Asombrosa)

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La Luz/Light: Sombras, Espejos Y Arco Iris/ Shadows, Mirrors, and Rainbows (Ciencia Asombrosa) (Ciencia Asombrosa)
Natalie M. Rosinsky
Manufacturer: Picture Window Books
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Ana Roque , and Ana Roquc)
Manufacturer: La Editorial Universidad de Puerto Rico
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