Explore some of the easiest and most rewarding hikes through Utah, Arizona, and Colorado's otherworldly landscapes—with descriptions of the unique flora, fauna, and geology any hiker can discover along the trail.From the towering cliffs of Zion to the ancient dwellings of Mesa Verde; from the bighorn sheep of Arches National Park to the Martian-looking landscapes of the Petrified Forest—each trail featured in Southwest Canyon Country's Best Nature Walks be...

A vibrant, family friendly guide to the unexpected nature found in and around The Emerald City.Seattle is a city shaped by nature. Perched between Puget Sound and the Cascade Mountains, it’s a place where forests press against skyscrapers, salmon swim through urban waterways, and bald eagles soar over morning commutes. Despite its reputation for tech and coffee culture, Seattle is also home to an astonishing variety of wildlife, from great blue herons stalking the ...

Plan out your trip on some of America's most beautiful natural wonders with this indispensable guide to the flora, fauna, geology, and hiking trails of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.Step out of your car and right into nature! Yellowstone and Grand Teton’s Best Nature Walks by Roddy Scheerguides you through simple hikes that feature the best of the park’s rich ecology. Each entry starts with the brief description of the hike's level of difficulty—all are...

Discover natural history secrets hiding in plain sightHave you ever seen a raging river disappear completely into a lava tube? Petrified subtropical plants in the middle of a high desert? Do you know how a 10,000-year-old argillite boulder can wind up 800 miles away from any similar rocks? In this insightful guide, environmental journalist and photographer Roddy Scheer reveals the hidden stories of the Pacific Northwest’s unique ecosystems and teaches you how to “r...

Modern-day fly fishing, like much in life, has become exceedingly complex, with high-tech gear, a confusing array of flies and terminal tackle, accompanied by high-priced fishing guides. This book reveals that the best way to catch trout is simply, with a rod and a fly and not much else. The wisdom in this book comes from a simpler time, when the premise was: the more you know, the less you need. It teaches the reader how to discover where the fish are, at what depth, and what they are fee...

Thorough, detailed, and scientifically up-to-date, Prairies: A Natural History provides a comprehensive nontechnical guide to the biology and ecology of the prairies, or the Great Plains grasslands of North America, offering a view of the past, a vision for the future, and a clear focus on the present. With a total area of more than 3.5 million square kilometers (500,000 in Canada and the remainder in the United States), the prairies occupy the heartland of the co...

Extensively illustrated with Ian McAllister's magnificent photographs, The Salmon Bears explores the delicate balance that exists between the grizzly, black and spirit bears and their natural environment, the last great wilderness along the central coast of British Columbia.Key to this relationship are the salmon that are born in the rivers each spring, who then go out to sea as juveniles and return as adults to spawn and die, completing a cycle of life th...

Learn to identify threatening species through tracks, scat, and the damage they leave behind. Fascinating profiles of more than 50 predatory mammals, birds, and reptiles teach farmers, ranchers, homesteaders, and backyard-animal raisers how to prevent their livestock, poultry, and pets from becoming prey. By understanding how predators think and behave, where and how they live, and how they attack and kill prey, you'll be able to interpret the potential threats surrounding your home. Wheth...

When we think of wild animals, we don't immediately associate them with the cities we live in. But a closer look soon reveals that we share our urban environment with a great many untamed creatures. Heavily illustrated and full of entertaining and informative facts, City Critters examines how and why so many wild animals choose to live in places that, on first glance at least, seem contrary to their needs. How do those deer, raccoons, squirrels, skunks, coyotes, crows, gulls and geese – no...

In these delightful meditations, biologist and bird lover Richard Cannings weaves stories of his personal encounters with birds into fascinating descriptions of their behavior, anatomy, and evolution. He muses over the meadowlarks’ ability to hide their nests so completely that he has seen only two in a lifetime spent searching for them; the trumpeter swan, as picky as a two-year old, devouring potatoes and carrots but turning up its beak at Brussels sprouts; the northern ...

Formed by glaciers more than twelve thousand years ago, Lake Ontario has captivated nature lovers for generations. Unique among the Great Lakes for having once been connected to the sea, fossils from ocean life have been found near the lake's shores. Damage done to Lake Ontario's ecosystem from centuries of human activity was center stage in the fight to pass the Clean Water Act and the restoration that followed. From incredibly diverse bird migrations in the spring and fall to the squalls...

Equal parts nature guide, adventure story, and coffee table book!People are captivated by wild animals—by their strength and their size and by the things they do to stay alive. In Wildlife Spectacles zoologist Vladimir Dinets dives deep into this wonder, allowing curious readers to discover just how spectacular wild animals can be. In the rich, fully illustrated pages you’ll discover the migration of gray whales along the Pacific coast, the dancing alligat...