Curious Encounters with the Natural World: From Grumpy Spiders to Hidden Tigers

by Michael Jeffords, Susan Post

Overview

Michael R. Jeffords and Susan L. Post have circled the globe--and explored their neighborhood--collecting images of the natural world. This book opens their personal cabinet of curiosities to tell the stories of the pair's most unusual encounters. From the "necking" battles of mate-hungry giraffes to the breathtaking beauty of millions of monarch butterflies at rest, Jeffords and Post share 200 stunning photographs and their own insightful essays to guide readers on a spectacular journey. Their training as entomologists offers unique perspectives on surprise stag beetle swarms and spider hunting habits. Their photographic eye, honed by decades of observation, finds expression in once-in-a-lifetime images. The result is an eyewitness collection of startling and unusual phenomena that illuminates the diverse life inhabiting our planet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780252099670
Publisher:	University of Illinois Press
Publication date:	06/30/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	232
File size:	90 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Michael R. Jeffords is the retired education/outreach director for the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) and was staff photographer for The Illinois Steward magazine. Susan L. Post is a retired INHS field biologist and staff writer for The Illinois Steward magazine, and author of Hiking Illinois. They are coauthors of Exploring Nature in Illinois and Illinois Wilds.

Table of Contents

Cover Title Copyright Contents FOREWORD ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION: NATURALISTS AFIELD—A LIFETIME OF CURIOSITY CHAPTER 1. AMASSED NATURE Turtle Shingling Hackberry Happenings Japanese Invasion Yellow-Headed Roost Outback Caper Brazilian Caterpillars Monarchs in Mexico Kicking Up a Storm Mite Carpet Pelagic! Milkweed Mass Clown Invasion Emergence! The Red and Green Show CHAPTER 2. ENVIRONMENTAL FLUIDS May 28, 2011 Herptile Sipping Fragrant Fields Spiders, Striders, Hexagons & Halos CHAPTER 3. HIDDEN WORLDS Attract or Repulse? Supernormal Stimulus The Egret and the Fly Yard Bot Reality versus Book Learnin’ Acorn Weevil Hidden Tigers An Unlikely Pair Sundew Drama Fickle Evolution Stink Bug Babies Mr. Jackman’s Bog Aquatic Christmas Ornaments Psychophily The Thin Ones CHAPTER 4. MOMENTS IN TIME Grumpy Spiders Frog Relief Lorikeet Lure A Good Thwonking! Sex on the Fly Touched from Above Sands of the Falklands An Encounter with Extinction The Leather Purse Capturing Mystery The Blue Beech CHAPTER 5. PHYSICAL PHENOMENA Hidden Rainbows Seasonal Lines Tomorrow’s Fossil Goblins Superior Ice Lights, Action, Camera! CHAPTER 6. SELDOM WITNESSED Cormorant Rookery Always at Trail’s End Beaver Sign Winter Stoneflies High Salamander Hoatzin Lineup Down the Hatch Demons in the Dust The Last Ottoe? Gulls at Play Chitinous Snack Snake Dance From Above Turkey Tango CHAPTER 7. TRULY BIZARRE Beetle Playground Trilobites Today? Did I Just See That? The Scream Colorful Katydids Scavenger Hunt Worm Circles Size Does Matter Sixty-Minute Cruise Life List—Yes or No? CHAPTER 8. JUST BE CURIOUS Bee-eaters! Capybara Encounters Welwitschia! The Stalker Lady’s Slippers for Sale! Flying Squirrel Café To See a Giant Otter CHAPTER 9. WHO KNEW? All Things Connected The Gingko Effect Green Feathers Paz Tale Olympic-Size Pan Trap Mixed Marriage? Ménage à Trois Lost Ivory Ottie and Bokkie Toy Salamander Endemic Family A Change of Heart Travel Hazards Learning from Leopold CHAPTER 10. BE PREPARED Cock-of-the-Rock Vanessa! Beautiful Musk Bison Migration Rapacious! CONCLUSION: THE END OF THE LANE EPILOGUE: UNEXPECTED SURPRISES GLOSSARY REFERENCES INDEX

Editorial Reviews

"Sitting down with this collection of tales is setting off on a series of adventures in which the reader is enticed to share vicariously one exceptional experience after another. The experiences are presented in succinct, entertaining essays and striking images—some poignant, some humorous, some bordering on the incredible, and all informative. Susan Post and Michael Jeffords speak from decades of professional experience and a lifelong passion for natural history that has endowed them with an exceptional receptiveness for nature's curious events, those events rarely witnessed and those that often pass unnoticed and unappreciated."—James B. Nardi, author of Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners


"Michael Jeffords's and Susan Post's book is unique in its rich compilation of entertaining narratives and beautiful photographs of natural history phenomena across the world. Their beautiful descriptions of the adaptations and behaviors of creatures large and small incorporate important issues such as invasion of exotic species, extinction, environmental change, and habitat destruction and will inspire others to look more closely at the natural world."—Bonnie Styles, Director Emeritus, Illinois State Museum System

From the Publisher