'The most precious book of my childhood’ – Sir David Attenborough Meet Old Lobo, a gigantic grey wolf whose death-defying predations on sheep and cattle herds are the scourge of farmers and ranchers in the Currumpaw region of northern New Mexico. This great wolf is just one of the animals whose true stories come to life in this engrossing collection of tales by the celebrated naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton (1860-1946). Combining scientific observations of animals in their natural habitats with a romantic vision of nature and the narrative skills of a born storyteller, Seton created an extraordinary collection of tales that gave the animal story new force and believability as a literary genre. Critically and popularly acclaimed upon its initial appearance in 1898, Wild Animals I Have Known remains, more than a century later, the best-known and best-loved of his works.Each tale focuses on an individual creature: the clever crow, Silverspot; Raggylug, a young cottontail rabbit; the author's errant hound, Bingo; Redruff, a Don Valley partridge; a wild horse known as The Mustang; Vixen, The Springfield Fox; and Wully, faithful sheep dog by day and treacherous killer by night. Seton offers affectionate but realistic portraits of each animal, stressing the commonality between his subjects and their human neighbours.In addition to his popular wildlife stories, the author is well known for his work as an illustrator and painter. This edition faithfully reproduces the layout of the original volume, as well as all 200 of the author's distinctive illustrations. Animal lovers, environmentalists, naturalists, and any reader who appreciates a lively yarn will cherish this memorable wildlife classic.
Оглавление
Ernest Thompson Seton. Wild Animals I Have Known
Contents
NOTE TO THE READER
LOBO The King of Currumpaw
LOBO The King of Currumpaw
SILVERSPOT The Story of a Crow
SILVERSPOT The Story of a Crow
RAGGYLUG The Story of a Cottontail Rabbit
RAGGYLUG The Story of a Cottontail Rabbit
BINGO The Story of My Dog
BINGO The Story of My Dog
THE SPRINGFIELD FOX
THE SPRINGFIELD FOX
THE PACING MUSTANG
THE PACING MUSTANG
WULLY The Story of a Yaller Dog
WULLY The Story of a Yaller Dog
WULLY
REDRUFF The Story of the Don Valley Partridge
REDRUFF The Story of the Don Valley Partridge
Tailpiece: The Thought
Copyright
Отрывок из книги
This book is dedicated to Jim
I believe that natural history has lost much by the vague general treatment that is so common. What satisfaction would be derived from a ten-page sketch of the habits and customs of Man? How much more profitable it would be to devote that space to the life of some one great man. This is the principle I have endeavored to apply to my animals. The real personality of the individual and his view of life are my theme, rather than the ways of the race in general, as viewed by a casual and hostile human eye.
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‘I saw them to-day,’ he said, ‘and the wild one that breaks away is Blanca.’ Then the truth dawned upon me, and I added, ‘Now, I know that Blanca is a she-wolf, because were a he-wolf to act thus, Lobo would kill him at once.’
This suggested a new plan. I killed a heifer, and set one or two rather obvious traps about the carcass. Then cutting off the head, which is considered useless offal, and quite beneath the notice of a wolf, I set it a little apart and around it placed two powerful steel traps properly deodorized and concealed with the utmost care. During my operations I kept my hands, boots, and implements smeared with fresh blood, and afterward sprinkled the ground with the same, as though it had flowed from the head; and when the traps were buried in the dust I brushed the place over with the skin of a coyote, and with a foot of the same animal made a number of tracks over the traps. The head was so placed that there was a narrow passage between it and some tussocks, and in this passage I buried two of my best traps, fastening them to the head itself.
