An enlightening look at animal behavior and the cycle of life and death, from "one of the finest naturalists of our time" (Edward O. Wilson).
When a good friend with a severe illness wrote, asking if he might have his "green burial" at Bernd Heinrich's hunting camp in Maine, it inspired the acclaimed biologist to investigate a subject that had long fascinated him. How exactly does the animal world deal with the flip side of the life cycle? And what are the lessons, ecological to spiritual, imparted by a close look at how the animal world renews itself?
Heinrich focuses his wholly original gaze on the fascinating doings of creatures most of us would otherwise turn away from—field mouse burials conducted by carrion beetles; the communication strategies of ravens, "the premier northern undertakers"; and the "inadvertent teamwork" among wolves and large cats, foxes and weasels, bald eagles and nuthatches in cold-weather dispersal of prey. Heinrich reveals, too, how and where humans still play our ancient and important role as scavengers, thereby turning not dust to dust, but life to life.
"If it has not been clear to readers by now, this book confirms that Bernd Heinrich is one of the finest naturalists of our time.
Life Everlasting shines with the authenticity and originality that are unique to a life devoted to natural history in the field." —Edward O. Wilson, author of
The Meaning of Human Existence and
The Social Conquest of Earth
- 256 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Table of contents
- Title Page
- Table of Contents
- Copyright
- Introduction
- SMALL TO LARGE
- Beetles That Bury Mice
- Sendoff for a Deer
- The Ultimate Recycler: Remaking the World
- NORTH TO SOUTH
- Northern Winter: For the Birds
- The Vulture Crowd
- PLANT UNDERTAKERS
- Trees of Life
- Dung Eaters
- WATERY DEATHS
- Salmon Death-into-Life
- Other Worlds
- CHANGES
- Metamorphosis into a New Life and Lives
- Beliefs, Burials, and Life Everlasting
- Postscript
- Acknowledgments
- Further Reading
- Index
- About the Author
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