Nic Bishop

Describes a variety of animals and insects that can be found close to home and offers tips on how to observe them.

"Few animals are more impressive than elephants. They are by far the biggest of all land animals. And yet, elephants are more than mighty. They are sensitive and intelligent creatures who live in large, caring family societies run by females. They have extraordinary senses and communicate in complex ways that scientists are only now starting to understand. Elephants play an essential role in the delicate African and Asian ecosystems. Today, elephant...

Text and photographs introduce readers to different types of spiders and their behaviour. Suggested level: primary, intermediate.

Experience close-up the many moods (and colors) of chameleons. One brave chameleon ventures from the safety of his tree in search of a new home. On his journey, he meets other rain forest animals, not all of them friendly! Alas, the new tree he chooses is already home to another chameleon. She dons her aggressive coloring until she's sure that the visitor is friend, not foe. Then they welcome each other with brilliant, happy colors. Incredible photographs...

Discusses the work of Bob Mason and his efforts to study and protect snakes, particularly red-sided garter snakes.

Ernest Hemingway once claimed the hyena is a "sad yowler, camp-follower, stinking, foul, with jaws that crack the bones the lion leaves, belly dragging loping away on the brown plain..." Many years later, in the movie The Lion King, Whoopi Goldberg famously voiced the skulking, sulking, hysterically giggling hyena that further cemented the general distaste toward these seemingly cowardly scavengers. But don't let hyenas' bad reputation fool you. As...