William J. Long (1) (1867–1952)

This book of ethical naturalism opens with a "Dog Comedy" where two dogs kill an innocent woodchuck.
William Long did not bother to call them off.

Interwoven with endless tales of brutal hunting comes the Chapter two event of capturing a crow and "splitting" its tongue.
Hunting crows follows, with patronizing description of his Indian guides and African "savages."

I skimmed the rest for the good feelings about his pond, silence, and solitude with his Ash tree.

Animal paintings rate 5 Stars, as show more does:

"...there is no dead matter in the world, that the ultimate particles of which matter is composed are all intensely alive.
And if alive, they must be sentient, that is each must have an infinitesimal degree of feeling or sense perception."

"...understanding is a gift of God, and it comes only to those who keep their hearts open."

And their guns at home...? show less

An enjoyable book about the many humorous and interesting habits of some of America’s wildlife.

This includes the raccoon, bear, toad, deer, etc. I rather liked it, especially the chapter about the toad.

*note- does include many instances of the outdated term “Indian.”

Interesting chapters on various birds told by a keen observer. Would be of interest to children and adults alike. The chapters are usually titled with an Indian name for the bird, altho I'm not sure if the tribal language is ever identified. We are just told that the name is supplied by his Indian guide.

I liked the book fairly well at least the first part, although at times the style went between describing the animal in the woods (preferred) to almost poetic (not sure what to call it, but not of my liking). Also, I thought it was a good book for reading about the animals in the woods, until later in the book when he started talking at length about details in the hunting and killing of animals - definitely NOT of my liking!