Fav animal related books

Thought I'd list my top 5 list of favourite animal related books. Here goes...

1. Tales of a Rat-Hunting Man; by Brian Plummer. A classic: funny, informative, and thought-provoking. Simply brilliant!!!

2. Rodents in Captivity; by Chris Mattison. A super little publication covering many lesser-known or infrequently seen species in captivity.

3. The Best of Friends; by John Aspinall. Amazing book, thought-provoking and with incredible pictures of the relationship between Aspinall and his tigers, gorillas, elephants etc. A hero of mine I must confess!!

4. One Man and his Animals; by Clinton Keeling. Totally frank account of Clinton's life as a freelance zoologist\educator. Clinton was as well as being a close friend of mine, the most knowledgable person on animals I've ever met - no-one comes anywhere near him.

5. Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills of the World; by Hancock, Kushlan and Kahl. Incredible book on my favourite order of birds - namely the ciconiiformes. Fabulous illustrations backed up by terrific text. An expensive luxury - but well worth it!!

I could easily list so many other titles and would have many from the authors Plummer and Keeling as their style of writing is superb.

Here's a great reference book....had this for many a year and ground breaking when published...used and dog eared as you can see...referred to often as the "Boid Bible" is there anything out there that supersedes this particular publication??

I've had a good look for a more up-to-date breeding manual Tony and to no avail as yet.....that said, there are plenty of good websites nowadays with superb info in there.....the trick is telling what the good ones are!

Choosing 5 favourites is a challenge, as Raymond knows I love my books and one of these days they will make their own passageway between upstairs and downstairs LOL. My 5 favourite animal-related books would have to be (in no particular order):

1. Atlas of Lesser-spotted Gnats from the Trans-Baikal region of the former Soviet Union: a pictorial guide for field workers by Harriot Hermon - this is thee definitive guide for anyone travelling in this unique area of the globe, written by the World expert on such matters. Don't travel without it.

OK so I couldn't resist.....but there are books that boring in existence LOL! Raymond no mention of Caddisflies please.....so seriously now.....

1. The Complete Rabbit & Hare Hawk by Martin Hollinshead - a very well written book, Marty H just has the knack with hawks and hawking, and as anyone who has been hawking will know, there are always plenty of good stories to be had! If you keep BoPs this book is a mine of info; if you don't keep BoPs it will seriously inspire you anyway; if you read it and aren't inspired / enlightened, keep a look in Buy & Sell for a 'life, free to a good home' :)

2. Pythons of the World Volume 1 - Australia by Dave & Tracy Barker.....this is an unbelievable book on my favourite snakes of all, the Aussie pythons (what other snakes can compare!); great detailed info and superb photos. Out of print but well worth selling a kidney for when one turns up. Sadly this python-loving duo appear to have fallen down a deep hole as their promised 'Volume 3: New Guinea / Irian Jaya' hasn't surfaced yet and I really want to read it!

3. The More Complete Chondro by Greg Maxwell - the definitive GTP bible, nothing else out there comes close. One of the best animal husbandry books I've ever read in my life. Even someone not into snakes should get this book and just drool over the photos as its brimming with eye candy that is the Green Tree python......and no-one has bred them like Gregor M.

4. Understanding the Bird of Prey by Nick Fox - when I kept BoPs I read this almost every day, the info within is like gold-dust and what Nick Fox doesn't know about BoPs simply ain't worth knowing. Better than his videos as his annoyingly old-fashioned hair-do (side-comb with a wave) can't distract you from the beezer info he spews out.

5. The Kestrel by Andrew Village - this is a cracking little bird, the animal closer to my atria and ventricles than any other, and so anyone writing a landmark book on it gets my vote. Somewhat scientific but a super book when it appears......also out of print.

6. OK so the deal was 5 favourites.....but this one deserves a place here for many reasons......the book took FOREVER to be published in English; its written by Ari Flagle, a top bloke; its on a Morelia python ('nuff said)......The Black Python Morelia Boeleni by Ari Flagle & Erik Stoops - this book basically chronicles all that is known about this difficult-to-keep species and reminds us that there are still animals we know so little about, and corners of the Earth that are so little-studied and untouched by the hands of 'modern' man. You see, Papua New Guinea / Irian Jaya have it sussed.....lowland eye-candy in the form of the GTP, and upland eye candy in the form of the Black python....so whereever you tread you see eye candy. Nice.

Karl...I know this post has been up for a little while....and I figured out why there's been little response....there just ain't any [response that is] a totally awe inspiring selection of texts...if you're not careful and you assimilate much more information you may turn into one of those Tefal men....remember them? They were super intelligent chaps that grew larger than normal craniums to fit ever expanding brains....a genetic trait apparently....now, none of your folks ever researched for Tefal out of interest....