Series in Animal Husbandry
Books in Animal Husbandry
Shepherds of Coyote Rocks
Cat Urbigkit journeys alone to spend a season on Wyoming’s open range tending to a herd of domestic sheep as they give birth amid the challenges of nature – from severe weather to a wealth of predators. Her only companions are the livestock guardian animals (BIG dogs and a pair of burros named Bill and Hillary!) that repeatedly prove their worth in devotion to protecting the herd. Cat Urbigkit journeys alone to spend a season on Wyoming’s open range tending to a herd of domestic sheep as they give birth amid the challenges of nature – from severe weather to a wealth of predators. Her only companions are the livestock guardian animals (BIG dogs and a pair of burros named Bill and Hillary!) that repeatedly prove their worth in devotion to protecting the herd. Urbigkit offers interesting reflections on the role of pastoralists around the globe and on the controversial issue in the Western US of private livestock herds being run on public lands. The intimate ways in which abstract public policy plays out on the open range is eye-opening. More than a tale of herding sheep, Shepherds of Coyote Rocks is an action-packed true story that reveals the broad spectrum of the human relationship with nature, from harmony to rugged adventure.
Whalehunters: Dundee and the Arctic Whalers
Few trades were so demanding and dangerous as whaling. The hunt for the whale and its precious oil, bone and ambergris took sailors to the frozen ends of the earth, on voyages that lasted years at a time. Harpoons were thrown by hand from an open boat, which at any moment the whale could reduce to matchwood with a single blow of its tail. This book is not a history of whaling, but the story of the whalehunters themselves. It tells of the experiences of men from little Scottish ports who risked everything for a tiny share in whatever their whaling ships managed to catch. Making a living in this way involved extraordinary adventures, harrowing ordeals and grinding labour: and a courage that was prepared to confront the mystery and terror of the sea.