South Carolina Wildlife

The American South is famous for its astonishingly rich biodiversity. In this book, Georgann Eubanks takes a wondrous trek from Alabama to North Carolina to search out native plants that are endangered and wavering on the edge of erasure. Even as she reveals the intricate beauty and biology of the South's plant life, she also shows how local development and global climate change are threatening many species, some of which have been graduated to the federal list of endangered species. Why should we care, Eubanks asks, about North Carolina's Yadkin River goldenrod, found only in one place on earth? Or the Alabama canebrake pitcher plant, a carnivorous marvel being decimated by criminal poaching and a booming black market? These plants, she argues, are important not only to the natural environment but also to southern identity, and she finds her inspiration in talking with the heroes the botanists, advocates, and conservationists young and old on a quest to save these green gifts of the South for future generations. These passionate plant lovers caution all of us not to take for granted the sensitive ecosystems that contribute to the region's long-standing appeal, beauty, and character.

Celebrating the beauty, diversity, and significance of the state's natural landscapes, Wild North Carolina provides an engaging, beautifully illustrated introduction to North Carolina's interconnected webs of plant and animal life. From dunes and marshes to high mountain crags, through forests, swamps, savannas, ponds, pocosins, and flatrocks, David Blevins and Michael Schafale reveal in words and photographs natural patterns of the landscape that will help readers see familiar places in a new way and new places with a sense of familiarity. Wild North Carolina introduces the full range of the state's diverse natural communities, each brought to life with compelling accounts of their significance and meaning, arresting photographs featuring broad vistas and close-ups, and details on where to go to experience them first hand. Blevins and Schafale provide nature enthusiasts of all levels with the insights they need to value the state's natural diversity, highlighting the reasons plants and animals are found where they are, as well as the challenges of conserving these special places.

The Southern Wildlife Watcher is a colorful look at thirty-six common and not-so-common animals found in the southeastern United States—from the hummingbird to the bald eagle and from the bullfrog to the bobcat. Rob Simbeck, one of the Southeast's most widely read naturalists, combines a poet's voice with a journalist's rigor in offering readers an intimate introduction to the creatures around us. Through delightful storytelling each vignette offers accessible information supported by quotes from noted naturalists and biologists. Simbeck covers habitat, diet, mating and reproduction, environmental challenges, and even folklore in outlining the lives of insects and other invertebrates, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans, and fish. The Southern Wildlife Watcher is a refresher course and handbook for veteran nature lovers, an introduction for young readers, and fireplace or bedtime reading for those wanting to reflect on nature's bounty. A foreword is provided by Jim Casada, the author or editor of more than forty books and some five thousand magazine articles. He serves as editor at large for Sporting Classics magazine.

The North Carolina Piedmont is rich in natural beauty and wildlife. Home to eleven state parks, three state natural areas, a national wildlife refuge and a national forest, the region offers more than just gently rolling hills. Tour the wild wine vines in Medoc Mountain State Park, marvel at the floodplains of the Haw River and follow the migratory birds in Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge. Experience the natural history, field research, interviews with park rangers and firsthand experiences of the state's largest physiographic region. Author Adam Morgan joins in a rich tradition of nature writing to paint the majestic beauty and raw power of North Carolina's wild Piedmont.

The South Carolina Nature Set offers the best in wildlife and plant identification for The Palmetto State. Our three popular 12-panel folding Pocket Naturalist Guides to South Carolina - Trees & Wildflowers, Birds, and Wildlife - are attractively packaged in an acetate bag and value-priced for savings when purchased as a set.