Product Description

Based on his more than 40 years of field research, Means, an expert on the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, reveals the biological complexity and beauty of animals that he has studied. Most people loathe these reptiles and amphibians, but Means shows his love for creatures that go bump in the night.

In Australia, Means searches for the fiercey, reputed to be the world's deadliest terrestrial snake. In Mexico, he stalks the rattlesnake that might have served as the model for the mythical plumed serpent of Mayan art. In Florida, he is chased by cottonmouth moccasins.

Through his experiences, Means hopes that readers will gain a new appreciation for animals called herps, or creepy-crawly things.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #232228 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 238 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781561644339
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Herpetologist Means is a champion of amphibians and reptiles, those creeping animals that most people not only shun but actively loathe. In this collection of essays, tales from 40 years of field research, Means takes readers along on journeys of discovery and, with infectious enthusiasm, makes them care about animals they may never have heard of. “Twiddling” a twig two inches from the burrow of an Alabama red hills salamander brings the animal out as she investigates potential prey, and the author discovers that he can see her unlaid eggs through her skin. When “chased” by a cottonmouth, a behavior he had pooh-poohed for years as an old wives’ tale, Means realizes that the snake is merely bluffing him out of its way so it can escape. And in the most heart-stopping tale, Means writes of being bitten by an eastern diamondback rattlesnake and of how he barely gets himself to the hospital in time. This is truly a gem of popular science writing and will make herpetophiles out of the most herpetophobic. --Nancy Bent

Review
*Starred review: Herpetologist Means is a champion of amphibians and reptiles, those creeping animals that most people not only shun but actively loathe.In this collection of essays, tales from 40 years of field research, Means takes readers along onjourneys of discovery and, with infectious enthusiasm, makes them care about animals they may never have heard of. Twiddling a twig two inches from the burrow of an Alabama red hills salamander brings the animal out as she investigates potential prey, and the author discovers that he can see her unlaid eggs through her skin. When chased by a cottonmouth, a behavior he had pooh-poohed for years as an old wives tale, Means realizes that the snake is merely bluffing him out of its way so it can escape. And in the most heart-stopping tale, Means writes of being bitten by an eastern diamondback rattlesnake and of how he barely gets himself to the hospital in time. This is truly a gem of popular science writing and will make herpetophiles out of the most herpetophobic. --Booklist (Friday , August 01, 2008)

Means is more than a scientific natural historian. He is an adventurer of the old school. --E. O. Wilson

[Means] is a rare scientific spokesperson for the natural world, helping people care about its continued existence. --Jim Fowler, former Co-Host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom

About the Author
Bruce Means is an acclaimed scientist, explorer, and conservationist. He is co-author of two books, Priceless Florida and Florida Magnificent Wilderness, and has published more than 250 scientific research papers and popular articles. He teaches at Florida State University.

Customer Reviews

Read this if you think you don't like snakes and salamanders
In "Stalking the Plumed Serpent" Bruce Means has achieved something truly rare -a herpetological memoir which doesn't rely on the cheap gimmick of overdramatized bites by evil venomous snakes (or gators or snapping turtles) to keep the pages turning -not that some of these things don't occasionally happen in the course of the 40 year career that Means draws upon for the 22 essays that make up the book -it's just that they fade into perspective among all the other exciting things a herpetologist can accomplish in that time frame. The writing style is engaging and the author isn't afraid to laugh at himself -there's never a dull moment. Each essay ends with a strong conservation message without ever preaching. The very best parts of the book are when we are accompanying the author in his home turf of Florida, and the essay I found the most captivating of all was the one about studying the Alabama red hills salamander at night. Hopefully, this book will serve Means' intended purpose of convincing the unconvinced reader that animals neglected and hated are worthy of affection and protection.

Serpents in the garden
I picked up this book at the local library because of the intriguing title: "Stalking the Plumed Serpent and Other Adventures in Herpetology," I did not notice the author's name, Bruce Means, until I got home. This immediately evoked the rambling house at Tall Timber Research Station in north Florida, with its thick stand of southern magnolia where I conducted a research project on Lyssomanes viridis (a jumping spider), and the mature eastern forest of Woodyard Hammock, where I discovered spotted salamanders under the rotted logs.

During the period I worked at Tall Timbers, Bruce Means was the director and I often got a chance to talk with him. He was certainly an interesting person, then (as he describes in his book) placing radio transmitters down the throats of the local diamondback rattlesnakes. I was pretty sure that he would eventually get bitten (as he does in the first part of the book), but the main threat he had to his health - about the time I was commuting once a month from Gainesville (University of Florida) to Tall Timbers - was an infection he got from being bitten by a baby opossum!

Bruce is a good writer and he has captured in this wonderful book the essence of the environment and herp fauna of the Southeastern United States, with Costa Rica, Mexico, Madagascar, and Australia thrown in for good measure. He even has chapters on cotton rats and earthworms - organisms that seldom get much play in books. He genuinely admires rattlesnakes and other magnificent snakes like the taipan, as well as everything living. Yes, some snakes can be dangerous, but if looked at more objectively than most people do they are amazing (like most, if not all life forms on Earth). The hatred of snakes, spiders, salamander and other "disgusting" fauna is not confined to the uneducated; I had one major professor and one department head who hated rattlesnakes with a passion to match Bruce's love of them and would always kill them if they could. On the other hand I once met a Ozark woman who was fascinated with such creepy creatures as spiders and salamanders - she was considered to be a witch-woman by the locals!

I may be prejudiced, but I though that this book was a fascinating read and I hope many people will at least look at it. Despite the popular idea, rattlesnakes and other venomous biota are not usually looking for victims in whom to sink their fangs. They are in fact some of the most interesting organisms (I would say next to spiders!) on this planet. Bruce Means has captured the excitement of working with these creatures as a field biologist. However, he does go a lot further than I would in trying to catch and photograph the most dangerous snakes on the planet! Maybe I am a coward, but I would never tackle a taipan alone along a one lane road in the outback of Australia, with the possibility that another vehicle would be soon approaching! Despite this I still recommend his book as a strong antidote to the untruths about venomous snakes common in our culture. One should respect venomous snakes in their habitat - they are a part of what makes the wild lands wild!

Stalking the Plumed Serpent and Other Adventures in Herpetology
This book is not only a must read for both amateur and professional herpetologists but a great book for generalized naturalists and ecologists. Bruce Means is a consummate writer who places a reader in his place in his travels so that the reader can vividly experience Dr. Means' experiences vicariously with a remarkable sense of "being there". I highly recommend this book to herpers, animal lovers, naturalists and eco-travelers.