A comprehensive presentation of the biology and behavior of moles (including an appendix on keeping moles in captivity). Contains eight pages of color plates, line drawings, and distribution maps. The authors are mammalogists at the U. of Aberdeen. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. The Humane Gardener fills a unique niche in describing simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures that share our world.

Though moles are rarely seen, they live in close proximity to humans around the world. Gardeners and farmers go to great lengths to remove molehills from their fields and gardens; mole-catching has been a profession for the past two millennia. Moles are also close to our imagination, appearing in myths, fairy tales, and comic books as either wealthy, undesirable grooms or seekers of enlightenment. In Mole, Steve Gronert Ellerhoff examines moles in nature as well as their representation throughout history and across cultures. Balancing evolution and ecology with photographs and artworks, Ellerhoff provides a veritable mountain of new insight into this exceedingly private mammal.

"A wonderful memoir ... hands down the most charming book I read last year."--Margaret Renkl, The New York Times A country gardener explores his kinship with the natural world in this heartwarming, human book where "each page is filled with love, regret, humility and a sense of wonder (and oneness) with nature" (Washington Post). Marc Hamer is a humble gardener with the heart of a poet and the mind of a philosopher. In this peaceful memoir, he shares how, from boyhood into old age, he has lived with, and not against, nature. How his proximity to soil, sun, and shade has unleashed the greatest joys and profoundest sorrows of his life. And how our humanity is inextricably linked to the natural world, so we should have the good sense to leave it alone. In simple, striking sentences, Marc offers a kind of poetic field guide to living in nature. He shares memories of childhood homelessness, his own poetry, wisdom about plants, and vivid descriptions of the garden he works in daily. He tells of flowers that are planted, bloom, and then die, of trees that burst into color, and of moles who burrow below pristine lawns. As a hired gardener, he has hunted moles for decades, but now he decides to let them be. Like him, moles do their work in the soil. Allowing them to continue is allowing all life to flourish. Beautifully written, life-affirming, and meditative, How to Catch a Mole is a portrait of one man's unshakable bond with his natural surroundings, offering hope and inspiration for readers looking to reconnect to nature, to each other, and to life itself.

This story is a quest for an animal so rare that a sighting has never been recorded. The Somali golden mole was first described in 1964, but the sole evidence for its existence is a tiny fragment of jawbone found in an owl pellet. Intrigued by this elusive creature, and what it can tell us about extinction and survival, Richard Girling embarks on a hunt to find the animal and its discoverer - an Italian professor who he thinks might still be alive... Richard's journey comes at a time when one species - our own - is having to reconsider its relationship with every other. He delves into the history of exploration and cataloguing and the tall tales of the great hunters, traces the development of the conservation movement and addresses central issues of extinction and biodiversity.

An imaginative, charming tale about searching for beauty and light in the world around us. When Mole looks around his underground home, all he sees is the black- and-white world of his cold, dark hole. Mole digs and digs, dreaming of finding something colorful at the end of one of his tunnels, but day after day, he is disappointed. One day, as Mole continues to search, he finds a pink radish poking through the top of his tunnel like a chandelier. Delighted with the knowledge that the world isn’t just black and white, he starts to talk to his chandelier about the world above. He learns that the world is full of colors! As Mole listens to his chandelier describe life aboveground, he imagines bright clothes, red roofs, vibrant green trees, pastel flowers, and the blush of the sun as it sinks through the sky. The next morning, Mole wakes to find his chandelier is gone, leaving a hole in its place. He is so upset at first that it takes him a moment to realize how bright his home has become. Searching for his chandelier, he crawls out of his black-and-white hole into the world above and discovers a place more colorful than he ever dreamed possible. Packed with vivid colors and striking illustrations, Mole in a Black-and-White Hole tells a charming tale about what awaits us when we seek out the light in the darkness.