Product Description

What exactly is a desert? How can I attract hummingbirds? Are cactus spines poisonous? Is a javelina a pig? This book provides detailed answers to 42 questions that the staff at the Desert Museum are most often asked. Supplemented with nearly 100 illustrations, this 200 page book is broken down into three sections: getting to know the desert, the desert as one's backyard, and enjoying the desert. Seven useful appendixes cover a range of topics including hummingbird gardening, venomous bites and stings, climate, and additional sources of information about desert life. A fun way to learn how wild and fascinating our deserts really are!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #225627 in Books
• Published on: 1998-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Amazon.com Review
The 200,000 or so people who stroll through Tucson's Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum each year bring with them many questions: What is a desert? How is it that gophers and rattlesnakes can live in the same hole? How can I stop Gila woodpeckers from whittling down my house? If I find a desert tortoise, can I make it a pet? David Lazaroff, a biologist and writer, answers these and dozens more questions in this entertaining, intelligent book, which belongs on every Southwesterner's bookshelf. --Gregory McNamee

Review
"An excellent introduction to desert ecology . . . A very useful, and inexpensive, book." --Booklist (American Library Association)

"The 200,000 or so people who stroll through Tucson's Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum each year bring with them many questions: What is a desert? How is it that gophers and rattlesnakes can live in the same hole? How can I stop Gila woodpeckers from whittling down my house? If I find a desert tortoise, can I make it a pet? David Lazaroff, a biologist and writer, answers these and dozens more questions in this entertaining, intelligent book, which belongs on every Southwesterner's bookshelf." --Gregory McNamee --Amazon.com

"This is a book of answers to questions about the Sonoran Desert." The opening words of this excellent introduction to desert ecology are too modest -- much of the information included can be applied to all desert regions. Arising from the most frequent questions directed at the staff of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum near Tucson (a distinctive combination of zoo, museum, and botanic garden), the book provides answers to 42 basic questions about desert life. The text is divided into three sections on getting to know the desert, the desert as one's backyard, and enjoying the desert. Commonsense answers are provided for such questions as: What exactly is a desert? How can I attract hummingbirds? Are cactus spines poisonous? Sidebars to many questions give more information about complex concepts, and the clear line drawings illustrate each topic. Seven useful appendixes lead the reader to additional information on topics such as climate and venomous animals. An excellent bibliography and a list of organizations round out a very useful, and inexpensive, book that is recommended for all libraries. -- Booklist, March 15, 1998

"This valuable book should find a place on every desert dweller's shelf." --Arizona Daily Star

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Sonoran Desert takes some getting used to. It's a place where "rivers" have no water; where plants are so spiny you don't dare reach out to catch your fall; where summer is interminable but winter passes in an eye-blink; where pigs aren't pigs; where toads spring miraculously from rain-pounded soil; where landscapes are pastels but sunsets are beyond Kodachrome; and where people splash in swimming pools near water-saving lawns painted green. Yet, believe it or not, this exotic place can seem just as natural and logical as anywhere else--once you get to know it. These first few questions should help you make sense of it all.

Customer Reviews

A wonderful book about this beautiful part of the country
This is a great book for anyone that wants to learn about this desert and the plants and animals that live in it. Unlike some of the other books about this topic that are written in an academic/textbook style, this book is written in a lively, question & answer format and is full of interesting and unusual facts. I've lived in this region for over 25 years and I learned quite a bit by reading this book.

just by flipping through it, I wanted to buy it!
I only saw this once in the bookstore, and just by flipping through it, I knew it had to be a part of my book-collection. Just moving to the desert southwest, I have been thirsty for more about my new eco-system and home........I may not have so many dilemmas now on critters and plants..........

A New Resident's Perspective
As a new resident, I had lots of questions about such a strange and beautiful land. Everywhere I turned for answers, I was pointed toward this book. So I bought it. The first night after it's arrival I opened it and didn't put it down until it was finished. It's not in my library, however. My wife and I refer to it so much we have to keep it closer.