Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

Last week we visited Tarangire National Park in Tanzania. This week, I'm making a start on our time in Ngorogoro Conservation Area, specifically the South Serengeti. It ought to be one post, also, but true confession time: this is as far as I've gotten in editing photos, so the next chunk will have to wait. This also means I get to post more photos :D The drive between the two parks/reserves was pretty long, and involved a change of plans. We broke the trip by spending the night in the Marera Valley Lodge, a short way outside the south entrance of the reserve. It was a beautiful hotel (also much higher and cooler!) and a gorgeous morning.  Petey Possum does like a bit of luxury. Sunrise from the balcony. We hit the road early, with the intention of going for a hike in Embakaai Caldera in the Ngorogoro reserve--the high part, where it would be cooler. However, something somewhere didn't happen, and we couldn't get our walking permit (I am pretty sure you have to have an

  Title: Wild Sex: The Science Behind Mating in the Animal Kingdom Author: Dr. Carin Bondar Publisher: Pegasus Books, 2016. 365 pages. Source: Library Not a children's book!  Publisher's Summary: Birds do it, bees do it — every member of the animal kingdom does it, from fruit flies to blue whales. But if you think humans have a tough time dating, try having to do it while being hunted down by predators, against a backdrop of unpredictable and life-threatening conditions. The animal kingdom is a wild place – and it’s got mating habits to match. The sex lives of our animal cousins are fiendishly difficult, infinitely varied, often incredibly violent — and absolutely fascinating. In Wild Sex , Dr. Carin Bondar takes readers on an enthralling tour of the animal kingdom as she explores the diverse world of sex in the wild. She looks at the evolution of sexual organs (and how they’ve shaped social hierarchies), tactics of seduction, and the mechanics of sex. She investi

  Title: Chomp Author: Carl Hiaasen. Read by James Van Der Berk Publisher: Listening Library, 2012. Originally by Knopf, 2012, 290 pages Source: Library (on-line resources) Publisher's Summary: Wahoo Cray lives in a zoo. His father is an animal wrangler, so he's grown up with all manner of gators, snakes, parrots, rats, monkeys, snappers, and more in his backyard. The critters he can handle.  His father is the unpredictable one. When his dad takes a job with a reality TV show called "Expedition Survival!", Wahoo figures he'll have to do a bit of wrangling himself—to keep his dad from killing Derek Badger, the show's boneheaded star, before the shoot is over. But the job keeps getting more complicated. Derek Badger seems to actually believe his PR and insists on using wild animals for his stunts. And Wahoo's acquired a shadow named Tuna—a girl who's sporting a shiner courtesy of her old man and needs a place to hide out. They've only b