Wildlife Detective

When critters crawl into your home, don't fret! Call Michael the wildlife detective. He uses his special investigative skills to figure out which animals have decided to make your house their own and how to safely and humanely stop them in their tracks. Author Michael Birt, a wildlife biologist, shares with readers the importance of treating wild animals and nature with respect and kindness--even when they end up in unnatural spaces and cause inconvenience for their human neighbors. He highlights the importance of finding compassionate solutions to pesky problems and explains why some animals may wander from their wild homes into our own.

Publisher Description

When critters crawl into your home, don't fret! Call Michael the wildlife detective. He uses his special investigative skills to figure out which animals have decided to make your house their own and how to safely and humanely stop them in their tracks. Author Michael Birt, a wildlife biologist, shares with readers the importance of treating wild animals and nature with respect and kindness--even when they end up in unnatural spaces and cause inconvenience for their human neighbors. He highlights the importance of finding compassionate solutions to pesky problems and explains why some animals may wander from their wild homes into our own.

'Wildlife Detective' is an account of over 40 years policing a sector of criminal activity about which much of the public and even some police officers are unaware.

Tracking Made Easy—from the Backyard to the Backwoods You’ve seen animal tracks while hiking, camping, or even in your backyard. Now learn what made them. Animal Tracks of the Midwest Field Guide by expert tracker Jonathan Poppele features the tracks of more than 95 species of mammals found in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. This new edition spotlights more species—including common birds and reptiles—as well as updated track illustrations, photographs, and information. Book Features: Animals of the Midwest: More than 95 mammal species, plus common birds and reptiles Designed for your success: Realistic track illustrations and quick identification tips Fact-filled information: Scat photos and descriptions of other signs that animals leave behind Accessible and informative: Easy enough for beginners yet detailed enough for experienced trackers Gait illustrations: Depictions and descriptions for each animal, from walking to trotting and hopping to bounding Species are organized into groups, based on similarities in track appearance and then by track size. So it’s easy to find the tracks in the book once you see them in nature. Bring this handy guide on your next outing, and leave a book at the cabin. You’ll be surprised how often you encounter animal tracks—and how much you can learn from them!

From the Great Smoky Mountains to Point Reyes National Seashore, America’s national parks are home to some of nature’s great wildlife spectacles. Here, Gary W. Vequist and Daniel S. Licht, two veterans of the National Park Service, focus on twelve animals that have been imperiled and at risk, but are now protected within the National Park System. Showcasing one species for each month of the year, including gray wolf, black bear, prairie dog, sea turtle, bison, bats, salmon, elk, beaver, American alligator, gray whale, and bald eagle, Vequist and Licht pair each premier species with a featured park, adding information about other parks where the species may also be readily seen and identifying other animals to look for in the same habitat—animals that prey, are preyed upon, or exist side by side with the focal species. Beyond being a guide to observing these remarkable animals, Wildlife Watching in America’s National Parks, as the title implies, is also a book about America’s national parks. Reminding Americans why national parks are truly our “best idea” and encouraging readers to go find out why, these career wildlife specialists stress that it is “impossible to fathom America without these animals and without the parks in which they reside.” Nature lovers, travelers, and outdoor hobbyists of all types will be enthralled by this inside view of America’s wildlife and the breathtaking photographs of places they inhabit. List of Wildlife and Parks Featured: Yellowstone National Park: Gray Wolf Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Black Bear Badlands National Park: Prairie Dog Dry Tortugas National Park: Sea Turtle Theodore Roosevelt National Park: Plains Bison Carlsbad Caverns National Park: Bats Olympic National Park: Pacific Salmon Buffalo National River: Rocky Mountain Elk Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Beaver Everglades National Park: American Alligator Point Reyes National Seashore: Gray Whale