I've already blogged about this on Pet Connection, so I'll do the short version here: I wrote something I'm really proud of in my pet column for SFGate.com today... and it's something unusual for me. I hope you'll read it.
On a related note, I have two incredible books to recommend, also somewhat unusual for me:
Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo
By Kate Jackson
Biologist Kate Jackson spent much of 2005 in the flooded forests of the northern Republic of Congo, searching for new species of reptiles and amphibians. While there she faced government hassles, bad weather, disgusting food, and seemingly insurmountable cultural barriers -- and she can't wait to go back. "Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, science, and survival in the Congo" is a fascinating glimpse into the world of a field biologist in one of the least-known ecosystems in the world. Read this book before you tell your little snake-crazy daughter that reptiles are "icky."
Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature
by Harry W. Greene
Author Harry W. Greene is the former Curator of Herpetology at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkely, and currently a Cornell University professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. His book "Snakes: The evolution of mystery in nature" tells the compelling story of the role this species plays in the natural world, and is full of some of the most beautiful and unusual photographs available. If you read only one book about snakes in your life, it should be this one.
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