John Dotson (2) (1950–)

This is outstanding. The essays are all very insightful into the natural world. Many demonstrate great detail in the results of study and great effort to get that detail. There is excitement in the essays as they are told as stories. These recorded happened so long ago that many of the creatures studied either do not occur there anymore, or behave much differently now after much more exposure and interaction with humans. Some stories, such as on forest fires illustrate how careless humans show more were then, and how easily most of the fires could have been stopped if needed. Even those stories document the long cycle from burned land, to forest and meadow, and the quick destruction and long second cycle that follows. The beaver stories are very interesting, illustrating how complex the beaver life was then and how different it was then before humans altered that too.

The book is very worth reading for three reasons;
The stories are very interesting,
The stories reveal detailed lives of the animals and the complex cycles of snow and weathering and draught and flood cycles,
The stories illustrate how the land has changed and the animal behavior has changed with it as humans have had more affect on both.
Highly recommended reading for all. show less