WINTER WORLD, The Ingenuity of Animal Survival
by Bernd Heinrich
HarperCollins, 2003
Category: Non-fiction for grown-ups
I had planned to read WINTER WORLD over the winter (of course!) but not much goes according to plan around here. And so I found myself enjoying some strange stolen moments in a hammock this past weekend, soaking in a New England spring and a New England winter at the same time …
WINTER WORLD is a meander through the Maine woods in the cold months, guided by biologist and naturalist Bernd Heinrich, and with special attention paid to animals and how they adapt to survive the elements. There were chapters on some of my favorite insects, including ladybugs, butterflies, and honey bees. As is the case with the best nature non-fiction, this book inspired me to get outside and look around. Too much of my outdoor time is spend doing things (exercising, gardening, lying in a hammock and reading!); I forget to stop and SEE.
My favorite quote came from the chapter in which the author admonishes the line of thinking that forbids people from touching butterflies:
The official response of “protecting” these animals by making it illegal for curious kids to handle or collect them assumes that everyone wants to do it. By that logic one could just as well make it illegal to not handle wildlife, because some get enlightened by contact with it. Personally, I think that this is ultimately more useful than everyone being distanced from it. Contact should be encouraged.
Hear, hear! Every human should be allowed (required?) to gently clutch a butterfly in his (or her) grasp, watch it taste his skin with its feet, and wonder as it flits away where is it going? when will it be back?
