I thought this would be a more lighthearted read, but it was actually kind of jarring following Animal Liberation. That one was very serious and had little superfluous language. This one was peppered with the kind of play on words and constant humorous asides that I know is supposed to appeal to a broader audience, but often falls flat with me, or just gets to be annoying. Regardless, it was an engaging read, just for all the facts about animals that were new to me. Although this book is more about human misconceptions of animals- going back into history in that regard- than new findings. It’s proving wrong erroneous ideas (some very archaic and absurd) that we’ve had about many iconic or well-known creatures. The author focuses on just a few animals: the eel (we still don’t know exactly where they spawn), hyena, vulture, sloth, beaver, panda, stork, frog, moose, hippopotamus, penguin, chimpanzee and bat (not in that order). In most cases, the author aims to show how animals are exactly the opposite of what people always assume- vultures may seem disgusting but they’re very valuable for cleaning up and halting disease spread, pandas aren’t bumbling idiots when it comes to mating- too many in captivity were imprinted on humans, or paired with the wrong gender! Penguins are not very faithful to their mates, sloths are incredibly energy-efficient, and vampire bats share blood with their friends. I didn’t learn the kind of facts I expected to from this book, but they were fascinating anyways! what really made me cringe was reading about all the experiments people did trying to figure out how bats nagivated in the dark, or if vultures could smell anything- early investigations into animal abilities sounded downright cruel. Also people used to believe the craziest things: that swallows hibernated in the mud underwater, or storks flew to the moon, for example. Moose get drunk on apples, beavers sometimes are killed by the trees they cut down, hyenas commit siblicide, and so much more. Fun stuff.
3 Responses
Ooh, fun! I have to say in fairness that it would be very effing cool if storks could fly to the moon. 😛
No kidding, haha!
This one sounds like a lot of fun…a good way to start off a new year of reading and exploring.