Research Catalog

Title

America's snake : the rise and fall of the timber rattlesnake / Ted Levin ; illustrations by Alexandra Westrich.

Author

Levin, Ted, 1948-

Publication

• Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2016.
• ©2016

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Westrich, Alexandra

Description

xxvi, 481 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

"There's no sound quite like it, or as viscerally terrifying: the ominous rattle of the timber rattlesnake. It's a chilling shorthand for imminent danger, and a reminder of the countless ways that nature can suddenly snuff us out. Yet most of us have never seen a timber rattler. Though they're found in thirty-one states, and near many major cities, in contemporary America timber rattlesnakes are creatures mostly of imagination and innate fear. Ted Levin aims to change that with America's Snake, a portrait of the timber rattlesnake, its place in America's pantheon of creatures and in our own frontier history -- and of the heroic efforts to protect it against habitat loss, climate change, and the human tendency to kill what we fear. Taking us from labs where the secrets of the snake's evolutionary history are being unlocked to far-flung habitats whose locations are fiercely protected by biologists and dedicated amateur herpetologists alike, Levin paints a picture of a fascinating creature: peaceable, social, long-lived, and, despite our phobias, not inclined to bite. The timber rattler emerges here as emblematic of America and also, unfortunately, of the complicated, painful struggles involved in protecting and preserving the natural world. A wonderful mix of natural history, travel writing, and exemplary journalism, America's Snake is loaded with remarkable characters --none more so than the snake at its heart: frightening, perhaps; endangered, certainly; and unquestionably unforgettable." -- Amazon.com.

Subject

• Timber rattlesnake
• Timber rattlesnake > Conservation
• Rattlesnakes > United States
• Rattlesnakes > Conservation > United States
• Snakes
• United States

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 441-464) and index.

Contents

An introduction to Crotalis horridus -- Part One. Egress : the dangers of leaving home. A quirky subculture ; Quasimodo in the Blue Hills ; Live free or die ; Zero at the bone ; A long, muscular tube -- Interlude : High summer : on the trail with timber rattlesnakes. The dangers of being male ; The dangers of being female ; A commodity of rattlesnakes : snakes today, Bibles tomorrow -- Part Two. Ingress : the dangers of coming home. Chaos of rocks ; Among rattlesnakes ; Into the abyss ; The very last rattlesnake -- Epilogue: The ambiguous world of the timber rattlesnake.

Call Number

JFE 16-10759

ISBN

• 9780226040646
• 022604064X
• 9780226040783 (canceled/invalid)
• 022604078X (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

2015037816

OCLC

920017410

Author

Levin, Ted, 1948- author.

Title

America's snake : the rise and fall of the timber rattlesnake / Ted Levin ; illustrations by Alexandra Westrich.

Publisher

Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2016.

Copyright Date

©2016

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 441-464) and index.

Added Author

Westrich, Alexandra, illustrator.

Research Call Number

JFE 16-10759