When it comes to present day megafauna, there are few that can rival bears in being charismatic. From representations of spiritual power, to symbols of a wide range of qualities from strength to love, to popular culture icons, bears loom large in the human imagination. Wayne Lynch’s new book “Bears of the North; A Year Inside Their Worlds” offers readers an enjoyable opportunity to get to know them in al their reality.
I’ll be honest – alligators are not a very big part of my life. They’re neither native nor invasive to Oregon – I don’t even think the Oregon Zoo has one (they have two African Slender-snouted Crocodiles, which true to Portland form, they’ve named Morgan and Lance, but no alligators) – so I don’t tend to encounter them while afield. I did see one once while bird watching in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, and years ago in New Orleans I had a small portion of one, deep fried with a side of chips, but that’s the limit of my experience with them.
As regular readers will likely already know, I love a good general nature guide. Not to say that subject-focused guides don’t have their appropriate uses, but for me, the best “bang for your buck” can often be found in a book that takes a given area and tells the reader a bit about the range of flora and fauna, as well as perhaps even the geology and weather, of the area.