Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of DeathFrom one of the finest naturalist/writers of our time, a fascinating investigation of Nature’s inspiring death-to-life cycle 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, raised 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. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - JBD1 - LibraryThingBernd Heinrich is one of those writers who almost never disappoints, and Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012) is another excellent contribution. From burying ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - Sullywriter - LibraryThingA great nature book, well-written, thoughtful, informative and engaging focusing on the cycle of death to life in the natural world. Read full review
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Bibliographic information
| Title | Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death |
| Author | Bernd Heinrich |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade & Reference Publishers, 2012 |
| ISBN | 0547752660, 9780547752662 |
| Length | 236 pages |
| Subjects | › › › Nature / Animals / General Nature / Ecology Science / Life Sciences / Zoology / Entomology |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |