Book Description
Mountain lion, panther, puma: whatever the name, this powerful big cat has inspired both fear and reverence in the minds of Americans. Chris Bolgiano traces the compelling history of this elusive creature, focusing on its interactions with human beings throughout the years. Now available in paperback, this book offers a concise natural history of the mountain lion, a fascinating discussion of the mythological significance of the animal to Native Americans and early white settlers, and insight into the culture of lion hunting. Other highlights include the lore of panther sightings in the Northeast and analysis of the puma's new role as a symbol of the wilderness.
Customer Reviews:
A book you will be proud to own.......2000-03-25
Mountain Lion was a wonderful book to read. I had been looking everywhere for a comprehensive book or video on the Mountian Lion of North America and I feel I have hit the jackpot. This book tells you "everything you ever wanted to know" about the Mountain Lion and more. From it's origins and how it relates to Natives all the way to it's current situation. Chris Bolgiano writes with a sympathetic eye and makes you realize how important preservation is not only for the Mountain lion and other animals but for humans too. She speaks about Mountain Lion sightings in places where logging and building houses have eliminated the big cat from these areas. She feels people still see sightings because of their phycological need for wilderness. She made me think more about preservation and the importance of saving our wilderness. I would recommend this great book for any Cat and Animal lovers out there. It could also be interesting for conservationists and anybody who is active or interested in enviromental issues.
One of the best books I have read about a wildlife species........1999-03-13
This is Ms Bolgiano's first book. I happened to read her second book, The Appalachian Forest, first. I liked that book so much, I had to try this one. I am glad I did.
Ms Bolgiano is both a thorough and accurate researcher and an excellent writer. The text of Mountain Lion benefits greatly from both these talents. It is clear that the author traveled widely and spent much time and money in gaining a deep and expansive understanding of cougars and their dealings with our species before writing Mountain Lion.
Once she started writing, Ms Bolgiano wove a tale of this most illusive and truly wild of our wildlife species that is fascinating and a real joy to read. I have only a short time each day to read. I repeatedly found myself looking forward to my daily reading time as I read this book. Finally, I sacrificed large sections of a few nights of sleep and devoured and gorged until I came to the final page. Once done, I mourned the fact that it was over.
To anyone who has even a tiny interest in wild creatures and how we interact with them, I recommend Mountain Lions most highly. It is like taking a tour of a large portion of our land and gaining a much deeper understanding of the people and wildlife of each area. Equally beneficial, one comes to a better knowledge of and a deeper respect for our great, wild, American cat. Reading Mountain Lions, An Unnatural History of Pumas and People, is time extremely well spent.
Lyric writing and hard facts combined.......1998-06-16
The reader can tell that a great deal of research went into this book. It is also obvious that the author loves and respects her subject. If a myth about this animal needs to be broken she does so- but graciously. It was especially hard to read about the state of the Florida panther and how they are now so inbred it really is better to bring in the Texas animals to breed. Most of all it is Bolgiano's writing that carries the book- wave after wave of clear, precise prose.
Average customer rating:
- Ideal First to Second Grade Reading Material
- Great adventure with Billy and Blaze
- Billy & Blaze to the Rescue!
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Blaze and the Mountain Lion (Billy and Blaze)
Manufacturer: Aladdin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Blaze and Thunderbolt
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Billy And Blaze: A Boy And His Horse
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Blaze and the Gray Spotted Pony (Anderson, C. W. Billy and Blaze Books.)
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Blaze And The Forest Fire: Billy And Blaze Spread The Alarm (Billy and Blaze Books)
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Blaze Finds the Trail (Billy and Blaze Books)
ASIN: 0689717113 |
Book Description
Billy and Blaze head west again in another classic adventure from C. W. Anderson. This time, the loyal friends come face-to-face with a ferocious mountain lion. But fortunately, they're able to chase the wild cat into it's den and save a frightened calf from near death. Billy and Blaze help capture the cat before it can emerge, and, heroes once again, ride the range in search of new adventures!
Blaze and the Mountain Lion is part of the classic Billy and Blaze series. Sensitive drawings and easy-to-read words capture the warmth and understanding between a boy and his horse.
Customer Reviews:
Ideal First to Second Grade Reading Material.......2007-07-28
We purchased all of C.W. Anderson's Billy and Blaze series books for our homeschool. The story and the illustrations make this book a real "page turner". Each left-hand page has large text for easy reading, while each right-hand page has a full-page illustration to complement the story.
The sentence structure and vocabulary is fairly good. This particular story is about a horse riding pre-teen boy who is on the lookout for a mountain lion who is attacking livestock. The setting is in rural America (probably midwest), and in the 1930's or early 1940's.
Great adventure with Billy and Blaze.......2004-03-07
This time Billy and Blaze set out west (for a family holiday) and encounter great boy adventures and make a new cowboy friend.
Billy and Blaze books teach courage and responsibility and consideration for others. These things do seem to be lacking in a lot of children's literature these days.
If you want a classic story with good values and a great storyline, this is for you and your boys.
Billy & Blaze to the Rescue!.......2002-01-01
I love this book on Blaze and the Mountain Lion part of the Billy & Blaze series.
This is when Billy and Blaze are on the ranch and his parents had come west and taken a ranch house for the summer and the had Blaze along too.
Billy & Blaze to the Rescue! So they are able to chase the wild cat into its den and save a frightened calf from near death. So Billy has an old rope he used as a lasso and he roped the calfs belly and he pulled him up.
Jim their new cowboy friend kills the mountain lion and Billy got a new lasso.
I love the Billy & Blaze books by author C. W. Anderson.
Book Description
In the 1990s, three times as many people were attacked my mountain lions as had been attacked in the previous century. These shy predators must kill to survive, and in areas where their habitats are shrinking, human-cat encounters are on the rise. Stalked by a Mountain Lion tells the stories of attacks and strange encounters between cougars and people and offers a sensitive look at the often complex issues surrounding their interactions.
Customer Reviews:
Well written book.......2007-08-22
I bought this book after my own "close encounter" with a mountain lion while running on a remote trail to try to understand the animal a little better and to try to understand why my encounter turned out the way it did (the lion walked away) as opposed to other encounters where serious injury or death is the result. The answers are less than satisfying, since no two encounters seem to follow the same pattern--there really is no pattern. This book is extremely well-written and sometimes more graphic than I might have liked, but very informative. I'll never run alone again.
Just change the title and BINGO! A NEW BOOK!.......2007-01-31
BEWARE THIS BOOK! If you've read "Cat Attacks: True Stories and Hard Lessons from Cougar Country," be advised that "Stalked by a Mountain Lion..." is the exact SAME BOOK, only with a new title and some (very few) updates provided. That's not to say it isn't a good book - it is, and I enjoyed it when I bought it the first time as "Cat Attacks..." But I am really unhappy at being fooled by a new title into buying the book twice. For that little manuever (not the content) I give this edition one nasty star.
Book Description
A close-up look at one of the last great predators of North America.
Customer Reviews:
The Cougar Almanac.......2006-03-22
I was not only disappointed with this book, I was surprised by the propaganda type nature of its content. While well written, the known facts about the animals were skewed or omitted, replaced, instead by the author's decidedly biased opinions. I was further disheartened by the lack of any of the definitive biological works on these great cats in the works cited. He pulls some information from the work of Hornocker, but fails to include findings that don't fit the authors point of view. While taking the books published date into account,it still failed to offer findings of recent studies on the cats. I purchased this book in hopes of using it in a college paper and found it fell short of current facts, instead relying on personal point of view that is too subjective to include in any biological paper that is concerned with the truth. My biggest fear is that someone reading this book will mistake it for a completely factual work. Furthermore, his obvious dislike of hunters and his degrading belief that it is based on lower moral standards is enough to repel most open minded readers. It might be considered low morals to not print the facts that he claims do not exist.
Informative but preachy.......2004-12-29
This book is a survey of the cougar's natural history, including its habitat, distribution and behavior. The material is interesting, well written, and informative, and the book's many photos (some in color) are excellent. Unfortunately, the author's analysis of mankind's relationship to the cougar is a formulaic, cliche-ridden sermon that reprises an ever popular eco-myth. His essential premise -- yawn, we've heard this before -- is that Native Americans lived in reverential harmony with cougars until Europeans arrived to despoil the Americas. As a result, cougars - and other wildlife - have been pushed to the brink of extinction, and so right-thinking people must "bring cougars back" by resisting their ignorant neighbors' hysterical demands for cougar extermination. If you are an eco-religionist, you may enjoy hearing this familiar sermon preached again. But if you are searching for facts and an objective analysis of a more complex reality, then this book falls short. For example, although the author cites the research of Maurice Hornocker (perhaps the world's foremost cougar biologist), he fails to mention that Hornocker has said, "There are probably more lions in North America now than when Columbus hit our shores..." This hardly supports the author's "brink of extinction" hysteria. Similarly, the author's "blame-it-on-the-europeans" story-line fails to acknowledge that John Muir - a Scot who immigrated from Europe to America as a boy - launched the modern environmental movement by writing wilderness-advocacy books that were hugely popular with his Victorian audience. Nor does the author mention that broad public support for the preservation of wilderness existed by the mid-19th century (think of Thoreau, who reminded us that "In wildness is the preservation of the world"). So the actual facts regarding Europeans' impact on North American wildlife (and of America's attitude toward wilderness) is both more positive and more complex than the author's simplistic, stereotyped claims admit. A special problem with this book is its analysis of cougar attacks, which promotes a misleading and potentially dangerous theme. The author states that it is "contrary to the cat's nature" for cougars to attack people - a claim which must seem truly bizarre to cougar victims. And although the author grudgingly concedes that attacks have occurred (and are apparently increasing in frequency), he minimizes them by noting that many of the attacking lions may have been too sick to hunt for their "normal prey". Or they were females who were only protecting their young. But while the author attempts to validate these views by referencing the research of Paul Beier (another distinguished cougar biologist), he fails to mention that the data actually show that a large fraction of attacks are made by healthy, unprovoked cougars who clearly regard humans as prey. And although Beier's data record a few attacks by female lions with cubs, they do not show that the attacks were meant to protect the cubs. As a result of such flaws, this book is a distinctly mixed bag. It contains many interesting facts, but the author's analysis of them is often simplistic, and so his conclusions are sometimes mistaken. Let the reader beware!
Everything you wanted to know about cougars.......2001-01-17
This is a wonderful book! I've always been interested in cougars and now that they are showing up in my state where they haven't been spotted for a hundred years, I find the cats even more intriguing. Mr. Busch has written a great book and good pictures too!
short but sweet.......2000-09-06
Although this almanac is a bit on the short side, it is packed with information on the cougar, including a lot of information not found elsewhere. The photos are good, and the maps are fine, but it is the colorful writing that caught my eye on this one. Many almanacs are dry dry dry. This is one is not and should be purchased by anyone who loves the big cats.
author is biased towards houndsmen and hunters of pumas.......1999-02-04
buy a copy of harley shaw's "soul among lions" and you will have a better understanding of the puma's role in the west
Book Description
Spider is afraid to get up on stage in front of everybody for the school spelling bee, but after listening to his father's advice, he decides that he too will try to be as brave as his Shoshone ancestors.
Customer Reviews:
With Courage, You Can Win A Spelling Bee.......2000-07-09
Brief Synopsis: Spider is such a good speller that his teacherwants him to be in the school's spelling bee. Spider's afraid to bein the spelling bee, because he'd have to stand onstage with lots of people watching. His family tells him that they've been scared to do certain thing, but that he must learn to be brave. He decides to be in the spelling bee. He is not afraid in the end and is a second place winner in the contest.
Note to Teachers: This is a wonderful book for fourth through eighth graders. Even adults would enjoy this book. It is the story of an Indian boy and his family. This book would be a good way to show respect for cultural diversity. Students who participate in the spelling bee would enjoy this book.
A much needed book about modern day Native people.......1998-11-05
There are hundreds of children's books that are about Native Americans, but most of them are folktales and legends - books set in the past. Rarely do we find a top notch picture book about a modern day family. That is exactly what this book is - top notch! Teachers can use it to help their children understand that Native Americans are not exotic, and are not extinct, but living in today's United States. Today, Native people's lives include a blend of elements of their cultural traditions with today's lifestyles.
Book Description
A personal exploration of wildness, territory, and the elusive nature of our lives
In this concise, richly contemplative book, Gary Thorp records his singularquest to see a mountain lion, or cougar—the “cat of one color”— in the wild hills and mountains of northern California, where he lives. Using the traditional form of Japanese writing known as nikki bungaku (literary diary), Thorp recounts his meditations and adventures, from taking a one-day class on tracking animals, to visiting a mountain lion in the zoo, to his numerous forays into the hills during the day and night. The pursuit of one thing invariably leads him to discover many others: The tracks of a solitary mountain lion, for example, evoke a marvelous world of photographic imagery, literary events, dancing foxes, ocean voyages, and blind poets, all gathered together just beyond the limits of human vision. Thorp explores what it means to seek something you might not find and ponders the difference between seeing only darkness and being blind, offering as well bright glimpses into the Zen tradition. Combining an elusive and challenging pursuit with a centuries-old way of uncovering life’s ultimate answers, Caught in Fading Light will give readers a new way of seeing, and will captivate nature lovers and Zen practitioners alike.
Customer Reviews:
A book as full of gentle surprises as hunting for mountain lions.......2007-08-14
Cats are very dear to me, having lived with house cats all my life and being fascinated by the great cats. So when I saw the subtitle of this book "Mountain Lions, Zen Masters, and Wild Nature" I just knew I had to read it. And I wasn't disappointed, not once. The whole book just sparkles with simple, direct writing that could be used as an exemplar of superb prose in any class. But I was especially struck by how many interesting twists and turns Mr. Thorp throws at us, even at the very end, the last 4 paragraphs, which I won't give away. I am sure I will reread this book several times!
Savor it.......2005-08-17
This is a fabulous exploration of what it means to search for something, and how searching for one thing can change your perspective on everything else you do. The book explores metaphysical, natural and personal phenomena in journal entries that are mesmerizingly trim and poetic without being presumptuous. Lots of "Zen journals" and "books of exploration" aim for this mark and don't come close. Read one that gets it all right, and leaves you feeling grateful to Gary Thorp for taking us with him.
Wonderful Book--I agree with these reviewers........2002-11-14
Reviews of Caught in Fading Light
"...The pursuit of one thing invariably leads him to discover many others: The tracks of a solitary mountain lion, for example, evoke a marvelous world of photographic imagery, literary events, dancing foxes, ocean voyages, and blind poets, all gathered together just beyond the limits of human vision. Thorp explores what it means to seek something you might not find and ponders the difference between seeing only darkness and being blind, offering as well bright glimpses into the Zen tradition. Combining an elusive and challenging pursuit with a centuries-old way of uncovering life's ultimate answers, Caught in Fading Light will give readers a new way of seeing, and will captivate nature lovers and Zen practitioners alike." Walker and Company (publisher)
"Thorp's character-and the character of the mountain lions-are expertly interwoven through this wonderfully skillful journal, which manages to be both meditative and suspenseful at the same time. As much as we relish Thorp's search, the question of whether or not he will find his lion soon becomes immaterial. For the central lesson of his book, we are led to realize, is the one expressed by our own St. Francis: 'What you are looking for is who is looking."-The San Francisco Chronicle
"In this small but rich book, Thorp takes us with him on a journey through the Marin hills, on solitary hikes day and night, stationary vigils, and extended drives, all the while sharing with us his growing knowledge of mountain lions and his Zen-influenced reflections on the meaning of journal." -Bay Nature
"Thorp studies himself as much as he does the elusive cat, embracing the world as he narrows his focus, all the while weaving his reflections on the nature of life through this satisfying journal of yearning, learning and observing."-Publishers Weekly
"An artful quest-curious, full of misgivings, humble"-Kirkus Reviews
Amazon.com
North America's largest wildcat stalks a landscape of myth, fear, and isolation. Most people--even ardent outdoors enthusiasts--will never see one. "In eleven years of hiking, boating, guiding, and exploring," says writer Pam Houston, "I've come face to face with nearly every North American game species"--except a mountain lion. But as we encroach increasingly on their habitat, the tally of sightings goes up, along with stories of attacks on humans and even deaths. The essays that make up Shadow Cat introduce us to the animal and the controversies that surround it. Divided into three parts, the collection covers natural history, eyewitness accounts (from biologists, hunters, and admirers), and the complex, sometimes nasty politics surrounding Felis concolor, variously known as cougar, catamount, panther, puma, painter, and mountain lion. Noted conservation writer Ted Williams exalts in the animal's population comeback after decades of persecution; Rick Bass tells of his own history with a legendary lion in the Yaak Valley of Montana; and Chris Bolgiano puzzles over improbable sightings in the East. The collection's true high moments arrive, however, in skillful editing that reveals an interconnected community of cat fanciers and the complicated ethics they navigate in their avocations. In "Eat of This Flesh," celebrated environmental writer David Quammen (Song of the Dodo) sits down to a meal of stir-fried lion, chewing over some difficult ethical questions: "I will let the butcher do all of my killing. I will destroy habitat, but not animals. I will eat stir-fried shrimp, stir-fried beef, even stir-fried elk, but not stir-fried lion. Huh?" In the next piece, E. Donnall Thomas Jr.--doctor, writer, bow hunter, and the chef in the previous essay--serves up a taste of the hunt, musing,
No matter how many times I stare up into an evergreen canopy and see a mountain lion, I doubt that I will ever become accustomed to the experience, and to tell the truth, I hope I never do. Tawny and graceful, the cat looks as if it belongs on another continent, if not another planet.
As coauthor Elizabeth Grossman explains in her introduction, "these powerful predators have, in many ways, become emblematic of the debate over [preserving] wildness and wilderness"--a debate that more and more is binding those who would hunt a lion with those who would protect it. Such ironies seem almost appropriate. The whiskered face that emerges in Shadow Cat is of a regal yet inscrutable predator, one threatened by habitat loss, public misapprehension, and its own uncanny ability to survive. --Langdon Cook
Customer Reviews:
It worked.......2007-07-11
I have recently become intrigued by the Cougar and found this book. In general, the essays were not too political or preachy, but filled instead with a shared love of this predator and its place in our imagination. I could do with a little less of the "I am part of the esoteric tiny society of humans special enough to enjoy this spot on earth..since I'm here first I will smugly vilify anyone else who thinks their SUV belongs here" sentiment. Of course, this sentiment is a natural reaction to polulation explosion and necessary, but it was little thick in spots.
A terrible book on lions........2000-03-06
If you want a terrific book on mountain lions, then please read Soul Among Lions by Harley Shaw. I have read every book on lions and his is the only one worth reading. Most of the authors in Shadow Cat are easterners who have moved to Montana or California, displacing numerous wildlife species with their cabin in the wilderness and who have never even seen a lion, let alone have any kind of authority to provide insight into any aspect of lion ecology. The book is biased toward anti-hunting and environmentalism and doesn't portray an accurate picture. If you are a granola who likes to blame loggers and hunters for your own ineptness then you may like this book. They let Wayne Pacelle have the parting shot in this book, and well if that doesn't throw up a big red flag then you're probably dumb enough to want to read Shadow Cat.
An anthology of cougar lore........1999-09-02
A sleek, golden mountain lion sizes up the reader from the cover of "Shadow Cat". Intelligent, probing eyes pierce your soul. This is an anthology of cougar lore: natural history, cat encounters, and conflicts. Do you want something different? Sample David Quammen's description of a meal preparation. The main course: cougar flesh. Shadow cat offers the perspectives of hunters and conservationists, ephemeral recollections and sensation. Variety it has.
Excellent book, but Houston, we have a problem.......1999-08-25
Some anthologies are glued together, others are woven. This text is a wonderful tapestry of insightful, well written essays that address a controversial topic without relying on platitudes. There is one strand that is out of place, however, and while I normally think bad literature is best left ignored, I have to inquire why Pam Houston was included here? Her fiction is shallow, and when put to the test here, in essay form, it is apparent that she cannot write one honest line, cannot turn an original phrase that does not rely on her own substantial ego. The real meditations here are from Elizabeth Marshall, David Quammen, Rick Bass. Here is contemporary nature writing at its best.
Book Description
"Miss Stafford writes with brilliance. Scene after scene is told with unforgettable care and tenuous entanglements are treated with wise subtlety. She creates a splendid sense of time, of the unending afternoons of youth, and of the actual color of noon and of night. Refinement of evil, denial of drama only make the underlying truth more terrible. " --Saturday Review "Hard to match . . . for subtlety and understanding. . . written wittily, lucidly, and with great respect for the resources of the language. " --New Yorker Coming of age in pre-World War II California and Colorado brings tragedy to Molly and Ralph Fawcett in Jean Stafford's classic semi-autobiographical novel, first published in 1947. Torn between their mother's world of genteel respectability and their grandfather's and uncle's world of cowboy masculinity, neither Molly nor Ralph can find an acceptable adult role to aspire to. As events move to their swift and inevitable conclusion, Stafford uncovers and indicts the social forces that require boys to sacrifice the feminine in order to become men and doom intelligent girls who aren't pretty.
Customer Reviews:
Stafford offers a unique spin to the tradional hero........1999-04-12
This novel is about the coming of age of a brother, Ralph, and a sister, Molly. Even though Molly is a bright, young female who aspires to be a writer, she considers herself a long wooden box with a mind inside. While Molly and Ralph visit their Uncle Claude and grandfather, their mother takes their two older sisters around the world in preparation for marrialge. Molly spends the summer imitating Ralph because she does not have anyone else to act as her mentor. When Ralph asks her what dirty words she knows, his name, too, is added to the list of "unforgivables." Molly's presence inhibits Ralph's male maturation. Therefore, the hunt for the mountain lion translates into a form of salvation for future Molly's as well as for Ralph. This novel is rich with symbolism. An appropriate novel for the secondary classroom that highlights such subjects as feminism, anorexia, and dysfunction in the family.
Book Description
This guide contains helpful advice on how to reduce the chances of mountain lion-human conflicts and what to do if you encounter this predator.
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