As my impromptu urban naturalizing activities have mostly only gained me quizzical looks and the odd hesitant question, I long thought I was the only person who did such things. Then I recently discovered the writings of Amanda Tuke.
Wild Pavements
urban
Outsider Animals
Cockroaches, cowbirds, gulls, raccoons; all widely derided animals, and yet all also remarkable in their lives and ecological roles if only ill-informed popular prejudices are put aside to learn more about them. Prof. Marlene Zuk provides a superb opportunity to do exactly this in her new book “Outsider Animals.”
Unnatural Habitat
For an upcoming business trip to Los Angeles, I’m taking full advantage of a very interesting book published in 2024 by Heyday, Craig Stanford’s “Unnatural Habitat; the Native and Exotic Wildlife of Los Angeles,” to prepare myself for opportunities to observe and casually study the native and non native plants and animals I may see while there.
A Californian’s Guide to the Trees Among Us (Expanded and Updated Edition)
Back in December of 2021, I published a review of Prof. Matt Ritter’s 2016 book “A Californian’s Guide to the Trees Among Us,” a work that admittedly had been in print for some time but having just then recently been brought to my attention I found so impressive and useful that I wanted to make certain my readers were aware of it. Little did I know at the time that Dr. Ritter’s book was scheduled for a new edition.