Best animal biology books according to redditors

Bear spray is much more likely to be effective in this particular situation. Don't get me wrong I love my guns (I carry a .357 in bear country, there is a time and place for it) but in this particular situation the chances of fatally shooting a bear that large which is that close are slim. Bear spray is specifically made for these kinds of encounters and has statistically much higher success compared to firearms.

For detailed breakdowns of the mechanics of bear attacks, when to use which weapon, and why certain weapons fail in certain circumstances check out the work of Stephen Herrero, especially Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance. NOLS has also put out many resources on bear country safety, and of course the copious research by Dwight K. Schrute is also invaluable.

There’s a book about this, it seemed really interesting because the tiger stalked him for days I’m pretty sure.


Edit: found it https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Vengeance-Survival-Vintage-Departures/dp/0307389049

For pretty much every animal we eat, there are examples like this. Maybe not a task just like this, but you get the point. We have historically and constantly underestimated the intelligence and resourcefulness of most non-human animals. Even "dumb" animals like chickens and fish perform impressive behaviors. E.g., BBC article on chickens and check out this book by an animal behaviorist about fish.

And at any rate, whether they are "smart" or not doesn't affect their ability to suffer or their desire/capacity to not suffer. I think what /u/jeegte12 was trying to say was not really about a false dichotomy like killing a dumb person versus a smart person, but rather that we should avoid killing people regardless of their intelligence-- because even a dumb person wants to live and can feel pain and suffering.

The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival (Vintage Departures) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0307389049/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Y5U8Ab81M6ET2

I should've known, those giant beasts have always scared me. My instincts were telling me something...

Edit:

Welp, looks like Deadly Equines: The Shocking True Story of Meat-Eating and Murderous Horses has got the answers we're looking for.

>What am I allowed to collect?


For the most part the vast majority of what you collect will not be treated or listed and you are totally allowed to collect them. Collections normally consist mostly of adult insects and since most insects have short lives so you are likely killing them after they have already reproduced and are near death anyways. It is all worth noting that insect population are also so large that when you are only take a small number for a collection you are not affecting the species very much at all. That being said there are only a few insects that are listed as endangered and you should avoid collecting. I assume you live in the US so you can look up endangered species here.


>Can I collect at a state park?


State parks are normally not ok to collect in but it depends where you are. A good rule of thumb is to collect on private property (your own or with permission), Bureau of Land Management land, and National Forests (not National Parks) link for more info and exceptions.


>Where's the best place to learn about preserving and mounting?


Short videos (scroll to the bottom of page for videos)
text
bugguide
more info on traps and advanced methods

I didn't notice this mentioned on the links but make sure to keep some sort of poison inside of the box you stope insects in. If you do not carpet beetles (dermestids) will eat your collection. My favorite method is to crush up a mothball (made with para-Dichlorobenzene not naphthalene) and sprinkle it in the box replacing when scent is gone. Also if you live someplace with high humidity consider putting in desiccant packs to keep things dry and help prevent mold.


>How's, uh, the odor of a mounting workbench?


I work on my collection in my bedroom and the smell is fine. Some big beetles can stink as they dry (insides rotting) and if you pin a stink bug or darkling beetle you will smell them but it isn't bad enough to warrant putting them in the garage and most things will have no smell at all. I would also encourage you not to store insects in the garage since it is best for pinned insects to stay dry and garages can be moist. The things that do smell, however, will be poison (ethyl acetate, acetone, and PDB) so store those in your garage.


>apparently a good starter's kit is ~120$


If you want to spend that much that's fine but you can really start a lot cheaper. You can start with only a few dollars by collecting things in jars then putting them in the freezer to die. I suggest that you buy directly from BioQuip, pretty much the only entomology supply company. I think this starter kit would be perfect for your needs and only costs $40. I believe you were looking at this which is nice and if you are wanting nicer quality things it works, I personally liked starting with the basic kit then upgrading piece by piece once I knew what I liked and wanted.

Identifying:

When IDing here are some good resources

• bugguide.net
  
  
• Peterson Guide for common families
  
  
• the ultimate intro to entomology is Borrer and DeLong it has a lot of issues and some of the keys leave a lot to be desired but with it you can key out any North American insect or arachnid to family as well as get familiar with entomological terms and anatomy. The downside its it ranges from $200-$500
  
  If you can't ID something try:
  
  
• /r/whatsthisbug
  
• contact your local entomology museum or department
  
• if you don't have a local one you can reach UC Davis' at [email protected] just attach a photo
  
• or PM me :)
  
  Happy collecting!
  
  
  
  

This happens every year, often several times per year. The ants that fly are both males and virgin queens, and this is called a mating flight. Ants are really cool in that they are able to time the flight across different colonies and huge distances, so all the colonies send out their males and queens at the same time.

In about 24 hours all the males will have died, and the queens will land and lose their wings. They now have a few months to get the basics of a colony going before winter begins, and naturally only a small percentage will be successful.

Source: I've read this book.

EDIT: It's also called a Nuptial flight, and here is a Wikipedia article about it.

> The flight requires clear weather since rain is disruptive for flying insects. Different colonies of the same species often use environmental cues to synchronize the release of males and queens so that they can mate with individuals from other nests, thus avoiding inbreeding. The actual "take off" from the parent colony is also often synchronized so that predators cannot eat the ants one by one.

Markov wasn't the only person this tiger ate. There's an excellent book about this incident, called The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival. It's a fascinating read, and is full of information about the plight of tigers and other wildlife in the Russian Far East as well as human struggle for survival. Highly recommended.

Penguins attack people when they're hungry?

edit: Tiger attacks are indeed rare, but they occur much more frequently with the Bengal subspecies. There are a few theories regarding the cause of this, most focus on the idea that their territory is either not particularly suitable to the hunting of normal prey species (the Sundarbans) or that humans are encroaching on their territory. Amur tiger attacks on humans are very rare, and it is almost always found that the tiger responsible for human deaths was injured in such a way that it was incapable of hunting it's natural prey species. source: The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival

I recommend the book "What a Fish Knows": https://www.amazon.com/What-Fish-Knows-Underwater-Cousins/dp/0374537097

This post inspired much discussion about taxonomic differences between "Grizzly Bears" and "Brown Bears." Both are currently classified as the same species as several comments noted. Beyond that significant detail, I'll leave it to taxonomists to distinguish subspecies, etc.. My interest is in differences between these animal in the field and how they respond to human encounters. Many authorities note important behavioral differences between "coastal brown bears" and "interior grizzlies." I have never been close enough to an interior grizzly to see anything but a small blob in the distance. I've had brown bear mothers with cubs walk right though my campsite in Katmai and not take notice of me. Tom Smith, bear expert, described in his 2012 NOLS Faculty talk that bears have a tolerance for close approach that is variable, but generally, coastal bears are more approachable -- not that you should approach them. On the other hand, interior grizzlies react at much greater distance and may be a much greater threat. Smith and Stephen Herrero both suggest that many grizz charges are bluffs. Bear spray, according to these experts, is a better counter-measure for several reasons, not least of which is that you are not wounding a bear that was just bluffing in the first place.

A lot of YNP wildlife has a different attitude about people than you or I would be used to, coming from the midwest. They can sometimes be very apathetic of human presence.

Just take pepper spray into the backcountry with you. It's the best defense. Now you are the skunk.

In 2009 I went into YNP alone totalling many weeks of time spent in backcountry. I was very paranoid and afraid, but reading a few books on the subject helped immensely: Bear Attacks, Causes, and Avoidance for example.

The two times I saw Grizzly in the backcountry, my knowledge gained from conversations and books kept me from getting more upset. I learned how to hone a knife and had a really sharp knife handy, plus the bear spray can, and both times I monitored the wind and tried to get it to smell me, both so it would go away sooner and so that the spray would be on it and not on me. Each bear just moved off with no interest in me or my camp.

You'll read things that seem impossibly strict or contradictory if you try to follow the park's guidance alone. Their guidance on food smells is impossibly strict. They expect you to change into different clothes after you're done eating and hang all that stuff up with your food bag.

Besides reading a few books about being in bear territory, one of the best things for me was to watch YouTube videos of bear encounters, and there are some documentaries with bear encounters in them. Bears and raccoon have a similar manner / personality or what have you.

Basically, you don't want to surprise a bear. Two people have a big advantage because your conversation, mass and movement will generally ward off wildlife. When cresting a little hill or coming into a thicket, just announce yourself. Yell "hey, bear."

Research has so far shown the pepper spray to be more effective than gun shots at warding off a bear. You can purchase the bear spray at many of the stores and gas stations in YNP, or in any of the surrounding towns. A nice knife or hatchet in your fist will make you feel a little better, too.

Bears in YNP aren't bad at all. They're very wild, and that's what we want when we're outdoors in its habitat. The bears that are bad to be around are ones that are quite familiar with human food. Those are dangerous bears. In the Sierra Nevada and along the King's Range coast in California, black bears are real bastards. In YNP and the surrounding ecosystem, excluding bears from food and garbage has been very effective. In the backcountry, your knowledge of bear behavior and motivations is your best resource.

Read John Vaillant's book about a tiger tracking a man for revenge. Scary af.

In a similar vein, there is a great (short ~200 pages) book called The Tiger that tell the story of a Siberian Tiger in Russian that starts killing people, and how a team had to hunt it down.

Seeing this guy try to fend off a tiger with sticks ... I imagine his pants needed changing.

As far as I know, Borror & Delong's Introduction to the Study of Insects is the go-to ordinal key.
You'll need to seek out other resources to narrow it down further, though. There's a lot of bugs out there and they all look alike. Stephen Marshall's Insects is also an excellent one to have lying around. It's full of photos and that's a quick-n-dirty way to help you narrow your ID down (I'd advise against relying on its arachnids section, however).

I think this is what Mi_lotsa_a's meant. Pretty good book.

I know of a few books that might suit your needs pretty well. The DK Prehistoric Life Book is a pretty massive tome with info on loads of different dinosaurs and prehistoric plants and animals. There's also the Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs which is just about dinosaurs and is more sciency looking, but its more quantity over quality when it comes to dinosaur descriptions and the writer has some odd theories about Dinos that he injects here and there.

*ninja edit

its not christians we bash ... its their ideas ... the fact that you think you diserve respect for your relgion is a joke as it is hate filled and does nothing but promote hate .... its funny i can not go to a church with out them saying life with out god is not worth living ( sooo rude to make jundgements on other peoples worth )

its not the people we bash on its their IDEAS and IGNORANCE .... its the fact the christian relgion is trying to drag us into the dark ages agian .. we have people who want to say that women do not have the right to save their own life ( abortion ) it is the fact that they are tying to force the teaching of superstition in schools ... ( ID )

xxxx


i also find it funny that christians are the ones behind the idea that gays are not people and do not deserve the rights other people have to live life the way they choose ... but its the bigoted Christians they say hate the SIN not the sinner but they do not understand that being gay for some people is not a choice but biologically driven if you do not think there is no room for people in our society because they don't make babies... ( IMHO that's fighting evolution and not seeing the worth they bring to our society not to mention its not very nice to treat fellow human beings like this ... but the Christians are not big into empathy for their fellow man i guess ... how big of them ... )

xxx




sooo when you talking of bashing please look at what current Christians are doing to nonbelievers and unlucky believers that get caught up into your religion ...


so to recap ... its less offensive to say " Love The Religious but Hate the RELIGION " i know i heard something like this before but the thing i heard is that its ok to hate gays unless they change who they are ... does not sound very nice ... fuck your religion .... but not you ...


ps lets not forget ... where Christians come from as moral leaders when it comes to bashing non believers ... stick and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me unless its the word of your god and then i am sure you fell ok hurting people in the name of your god and if you don't your religion did and you share in the blood your religion has split ... ....

I've got one of these, and it's pretty good: Plants of Coastal British Columbia

An entomology Textbook would be a good place to start, or even a field guide.
https://www.amazon.com/Borror-DeLongs-Introduction-Study-Insects/dp/0030968356/ref=sr_1_43?ie=UTF8&qid=1479056077&sr=8-43&keywords=entomology

It's a good example of a controversial position.

For more fun, check out this thread:

http://animalstudiesrepository.org/animsent/vol1/iss3/1/

The start is an article about fish not feeling pain. It has about fifty responses, including one from the guy who wrote that book "What a Fish Knows."

It seems a moral precautionary approach is called for. If you don't know, don't kill.

You might find this book interesting : https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Fish-Knows-Underwater-Cousins/dp/0374288216 by ethologist Jonathan Balcombe.

Also this: http://animalstudiesrepository.org/animsent/

Downvote to everyone recommending bear bells.

Bear bells are NOT a good idea, but a terrible one, as they give people a false sense of security. Bears need to hear you coming. But particularly, bears need to hear YOU coming. Human sounds are what make a difference. The way you walk alone is relevant, but the absolute best thing you can do is make noise. If you are chatting along the trail, you're doing what you need to do. Your voice carries farther than a bear bell, and is a distinctively human sound.
In places, that might not be enough - tight bushes, where you can't see what's ahead, and neither can a bear, berry patches, where a bear might be busier and inattentive, along a creek, where the water makes noise, when you are hiking into the wind, and such. In those places, you want to give out an occasional loud yell, and keep yourselves additionally aware.

Bear bells are not loud enough to carry far for a bear, and they are not a distinctively human sound, so if a bear does notice it, he is at least as likely to become curious and investigate as he is to move off. But again, the upside of that is that the fact that they don't carry means you're pretty good.

The only thing bear bells protect you against is hiking partners.

If you can hike with more people, that is a good idea. But if the two of you are aware and making human noise, you're in pretty good shape.

If you really want to save your breath, an air horn has been shown to possibly help, but really, if you're not able to give an occasional shout, maybe slow down and take it a little easier.

Bear spray is a last-chance effort. If a bear is actually charging you, and gets within a few metres, you can spray, and it has a good chance of stopping the attack. It is a nice idea to carry as a last option, but you should change none of your other choices on the basis of whether or not you are carrying bear spray. It's something you don't want to use, but have just in case.
If you do want it, you can purchase at most gear stores.

-----

Since this thread insists on filling up with terrible bear advice, I recommend you the definitive book if you want to get the proper word.

That really is the best, and if you like

mushrooms https://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Demystified-David-Arora/dp/0898151694
or https://www.amazon.com/All-That-Rain-Promises-More/dp/0898153883

or rocks https://www.amazon.com/Gem-Trails-Oregon-Garret-Romaine/dp/1889786446

I’m midway through the book “What a Fish Knows,” which pulls together much of what is currently known about some of your questions. You might enjoy it: https://www.amazon.com/What-Fish-Knows-Underwater-Cousins/dp/0374537097/ref=nodl_

Sounds like a good start, lol. r/bettafish has lots of good info in their sidebar - just cycle the aquarium first - which the sidebar here has the info. 5.5gallon sounds great. Only exception being the petco "king" bettas which I'd suggest 10g or larger. Get a good pellet (omega one or new life spectrum) add once a week frozen daphnia (prevents bloating and is yummy).

Also, if you want to put yourself through another emotional wringer with fish read What a fish Knows by Jonathan Balcombe.

For those curious, this is a Pogonomyrmex Badius (Florida Harvester Ant, http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/ants/harvester_ant.htm http://www.antweb.org/description.do?genus=pogonomyrmex&species=badius&rank=species&project=allantwebants) ant colony. The photograph is by Charles F. Badland. Walter Tschinkel made the cast and is standing next to it in the picture. You can find more pictures like these, and lots of awesome information about ants in the book The Superorganism by Bert Holldobler and Edward O. Wilson.
http://www.amazon.com/Superorganism-Beauty-Elegance-Strangeness-Societies/dp/0393067041/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417722107&sr=1-1&keywords=the+superorganism

Yes. Yes. Yes. Always build a strong relationship with your professor and classmates. The most important thing you can do is to look at as many resources as possible beyond your assigned text to fully learn a new concept. If you just can't grasp a concept, make sure when you go to a professor or classmate for help approach them with the knowledge you have gained opposed to stating that you simply don't know anything.

As far as my experience I was better at lab work, but when it came to the straight theoretical and conceptual I always had trouble. There are always folks in the same boat as you and quite frankly their weaknesses might be your strengths.

I actually learned the very basic fundamentals using Audubon's field guide to rock and mineral identification beyond my assigned text. It covers the very basic to the complex compositions, structures, and formation. Link to Field Guide

Get him one of the small rock id books with lots of pictures (like http://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Minerals/dp/0394502698/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368484350&sr=1-1&keywords=rock+guide). Even if he's barely reading, he can match pictures to the rocks and you can read it with him.

And yeah, don't throw away his rocks. If space in the house becomes an issue, help him create a rock garden in the yard and mark off an area for him.

My parents have cute pictures of me when I was really little walking holding up pants with pockets bulging and so full of rocks that they wouldn't stay up. If he wants to bring too many home, you can make a rule about only the top 3 or 5 or give him a specific box or bag and he can't bring home more than will fit in that item from each trip.

When you travel, look online for cool rock spots or neat geology opportunities where you're going to tie in his hobby with family events. It will make him feel special and feed his love.

Very cool of you to work to support your kid's inquisitive nature.

My favorite parts of the post;
"Always wear gloves  – It’s surprisingly easy to absorb toxins through fingers" and " the data was drawn from The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms"

It's nothing crazy. Went for the Telluride Mushroom Festival in 2011. Had an amazing time, learned a lot, and met just about every big name in the field of mycology, including Paul Stamets, who is one of my science heroes. I also got to mushroom hunt with Gary Lincoff who literally wrote the book on mushroom identification.

Anyways, I have like 4 days of this amazing, fantastic time, meet all these amazing, fantastic people. The time comes to go home after vacation, and I knew that I wasn't going back to my shitty Wal-Mart job. Something had to change. So I called my boss, told him "I'm not going to be coming back" and enrolled in college. About to start my 4th year of school at the University of New Mexico, and yeah, it's been a bumpy ride, but I'm completely happy with the path I took. Sometimes I don't feel that way, but then I think on what life was before, and how much more I value it now, and I'm glad I did it.

Ever since, I've just had the itch to live in Colorado. It's beautiful, the people are super, duper friendly (I do a lot of hiking up in Durango and the surrounding mountains) and the beer is second to none. It's the kind of place I fantasized about living in for the last 10 years.

Nope, none of those for my location, but there is this fantastic book which is the bible of most foragers in my neighbourhood. And this one.

In general you should set up your shelter away from where you prepare and cook food, never store any food in your shelter, and store your food away from your shelter. The distance varies, but it should be at least 50 feet and possibly much more if you have really dangerous animals (grizzly bear, for example) in the area. Also, be a bit noisy around your campsite and when you're hiking to alert the local bears to your presence. Most bear attacks are not predatory in nature, but because a bear was surprised by a human suddenly appearing. They really do prefer not to deal with people. You should also consider (in fact, I'd strongly suggest) asking the local camping organization what tips they have for camping and hiking on the island. It's probably a good idea to bring bear spray and a powerful flashlight to deter any unwanted advances into your campsite.

/edit-some other things to consider-non cook meals, bring a partner, and please leave a detailed itinerary with a trusted person before you leave. For what it's worth, bears very rarely attacks groups of people-a camping buddy not only provides an extra pair of eyes and ears but is a deterrent by himself/herself. Also, get a copy of Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance which is the classic on how to deal with bears.

Knowing what state or region would really help. Salmon fishing on coastal Alaskan rivers is different than hiking in Wyoming.

For lots of reasons, people think of guns first as bear protection. Guns are definitely an important and valid tool (when I worked in Alaska, I carried a shotgun at all times in the backcountry), but they are not your first line of defense. This is going to sound cliche, but it's absolutely true: knowledge is your best defense.

When you're hiking, are you aware of the wind direction? Or how wind or creek noise could make it hard for a bear to hear you approach? Are you thinking about seasonal food sources and where bears are more likely to be? Do you have a good understanding of black bear vs brown bear behavior, and common reasons for attacks? Beyond just "if it's black fight back, if it's brown lay down". Can you tell the difference between them, even with a black bear that has a brown coat? I've also seen brown bears with a black coat.

This is the best book I've seen on the subject. I highly recommend it.

https://www.amazon.com/Bear-Attacks-Causes-Avoidance-revised/dp/158574557X

It's kind of like self defense classes. Everyone wants to learn cool moves to disarm a knife and stuff, but realistically the most helpful practice is just being observant and avoiding high risk situations.

Of course, even with good awareness and best practices, there's still a chance of getting attacked. It happens (rarely). That's the point where you need to decide between bear spray, handgun, shotgun, etc, but if you're not starting out from a solid base of knowledge you're doing it wrong.

Handguns are terrible, but better than nothing. They're hard to aim, especially under pressure, so if you're not interested in target shooting regularly, this is a bad choice.

Shotguns are powerful, easy to reload, and fairly easy to aim, but are a bitch to carry and still require some practice.

Bear spray is just about ideal. It's nonlethal, so you're more likely to actually use it in time. With a gun, there's going to be hesitation: if a bear is just sauntering towards you, ignoring your yelling and attempts to retreat, at what distance do you decide to kill it? With bear spray, there's no worry. Hose it.

It's also lightweight and requires virtually no practice. You should practice drawing it, and consider buying a practice dummy canister to see what the range/spread is, but that's about it.

There have been instances where it's failed to stop a charge. They're rare, but they happen. But guns fail too, especially if you're not a practiced shot. Nothing's perfect. That's why good behavioral practices have to come first, it'll avoid 99% of possible encounters.

TL;DR- keep carrying bear spray, but you need to study. Read the book I linked, then email or visit your local ranger station or fish and wildlife office and ask about bear populations, known encounters, and high risk areas.

For reference, grizzly bears are brown bears. Grizzly usually refers to interior bears, while brown bears usually refers to the larger coastal Alaskan bears. But they're the same species.

Oh, and bears can swim faster than you.

I don't know about Oregon, but I know that rock hunting is a blast, and finding anything gem grade is unusual, as most of the good locations are privately owned. Pick up a copy of Oregon Gem Trails or search for gem and mineral clubs in your area.

If you go to local creeks with gravel bars, you will see a little bit of everything the creek cuts through, if you spot something interesting you can trace it upstream to its origin. I'm under the impression there is a lot of agate in volcanic parts of Oregon. Gem grade agate is unusually colorful, has strong patterns, and no empty voids or fractures; that material is less common, but you should be able to find agate.

The Tiger by John Vaillant

Man-eating tiger stalks village in Russia. True story and great info on the region and the animal. Excellent!

I read this book a little while ago and was pretty surprised by it. You might find it worth considering.

Meat Eater by Steven Rinella is a wonderful book about his life as a hunter.
American Buffalo is another book from Rinella that not only tells of the hunt but contains a great history lesson.

My favorites are:

Roger Phillips Mushrooms and Other Fungi....
https://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Other-Fungi-North-America/dp/155407651X

David Arora Mushrooms Demystified
https://www.amazon.com/Mushrooms-Demystified-David-Arora/dp/0898151694

Audubon Society Field Guide:
https://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Mushrooms/dp/0394519922

DK Mushroom Book:
https://m.barnesandnoble.com/p/mushrooms-dk/1127751094/2689838557184

This last one is a big beautiful hardcover book with a lot of different mushrooms from around the world and some excellent pictures:
https://www.amazon.com/Book-Fungi-Life-Size-Hundred-Species/dp/0226721175

Other than that it would depend on your region because I have some guides I love that focus on my region.

A list of pictures is not enough. You need a comprehensive resource that will also tell you which ones have no inedible lookalikes and how the inedible lookalikes differ if they do exist.

The closest thing to what you are looking for is probably this. And, even then, go out with an experienced mushroom hunter the first few hundred times.

The identifying features of spiders are more subtle than they are for birds or butterflies - like eye arrangements, length and number of hairs on their legs. Also, consider there are about 900 species of birds in the U.S. vs. about 3,000 spider species. Just trying to help you understand why you're having a hard time finding such a guide.

My favorite spider field guide is the Golden Guide to Spiders and their Kin. Though the book includes spiders worldwide, it focuses on American species, and the description of family features can inform ID anywhere. There is a 1990 edition available in full online. Some of the taxonomic names have changed since then, but you can get the idea. You can't beat it for the money.

I don't have this one, but browsing it, it looks pretty nice.

Otherwise, the technical standard is SONA.

Alternatively, invest in a camera: take pictures and share them with us -- we are always here to help. Bugguide.net has detailed descriptions at almost every taxonomic level.

A specific regional guide will usually be more meaningful to own than a general guide that covers all of North America.

That been said, I personally own and recommend the National Wildlife Federation's Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America. It's packed with pictures and organizes everything by order, and then by family (to really understand the groupings, you should familiarize yourself with taxonomic rank). For each order, it includes some basic anatomical diagrams to help you distinguish one order from another.

It's also printed on some pretty durable gloss paper and has a water resistant cover, as icing on the cake.



I have not compared it to the Kaufman guide, since my book store does not carry it.

Comparing it to the Audubon version, I find that the NWF's guide is better for beginners due to having a picture for everything it lists. I also noticed the toner was coming off on my hand on the audubon guide while I was flipping through it in the book store.

I scarcely use it now because I've gotten good enough at identifying orders and a good number of families to use bugguide to narrow things down, but it was nice to take along on a camping trip.

Note that if you want to learn how to differentiate families of beetles or butterflies or spiders based on their anatomical traits, you'll probably need a specific field guide pertaining only to that bug. I can't recommend any, since I don't own any. Or use online references - again, bugguide is pretty good for a lot of things, but I have learned a ton from just googling for the information on a specific taxon.

I haven't heard of any good insect field guide apps, but this is my favorite field guide:

National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Insects and Spiders & Related Species of North America https://www.amazon.com/dp/1402741537/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_kbj-tb1X4SW2Z

This is a close second:

Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America (Kaufman Field Guides) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0618153101/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_zfj-tb1ZVGNYF

Edit: it's probably worth getting both for those prices.

Error catastrophe is not the same as genetic entropy: they would look related to a layman, suggesting error catastrophe is the acute form.

However, like many forms of poisoning, the chronic form doesn't exist: there are mechanisms in play that prevent this, mechanisms ignored in his simulations -- and his H1N1 work redefines fitness in order to make the data fit his hypothesis.

But if you're willing to look past that, you might shell out $20 for his book. Real science isn't sold in $20 increments, however.

This is where I find creationism overlaps with conspiracy. He tells you there's a problem, then sells you a book on it.

Genetic Entropy

No, sir, that is not correct. According to a 2008 study co-authored by Dr. Stephen Herrero—whose Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance (1985) is the definitive book on the subject—bear spray is considerably more effective than a gun when it comes to deterring bear attacks. The researchers studied the use of bear spray in Alaska over a 20-year period and found that the spray stopped “undesirable” behavior an impressive 94% of the time with grizzlies and 100% with black bears.

How about gem and mineral specimens?

one more

In undergrad, we primarily used the following textbooks:

• The Insects: An Outline of Entomology by Gullan & Cranston
  
• Introduction the Study of Insects by Borror & Delong

The go to text for most entomology intro courses. It has a key to the orders, and in the chapter on each order, a key to the families of that order.

Borror, Delong, Triplehornes Intro to the Study of Insects is the standard text for systematic entomology classes... it is not a "guide book" but a series of keys. It will get you to the family level, but you need to be comfortable with keys.

Edit: if you want specific guides to certain orders or families... you're best bet is searching google for posted keys (usually region specific) or searching academic sources for keys.

I finally started reading "The Tiger" by John Valliant.

Awhile ago someone posted a TIL and linked to an excerpt of the book, and it was riveting. So I bit the bullet and bought the book, but hadn't found the time to actually start it until a few days ago.

Thus far it has been phenomenal... I can't put it down. And it's added a few reasons to the list of Why you shouldn't fuck with tigers.

PETA has long had a campaign against fishing.

["What a Fish Knows"] (https://www.amazon.com/What-Fish-Knows-Underwater-Cousins/dp/0374537097/) is a really great book about how fish should get greater consideration. I highly recommend adding it to your summer reading list.

I highly recommend his book: http://www.amazon.com/American-Buffalo-Search-Lost-Icon/dp/0385521693

This is how I was introduced to him.

The Superorganism is a great book all about ants and their social heirarchy. The wording in the book tends towards the academic but its still very enjoyable.
Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0393067041

Get a good mineral/rock ID book (I suggest buying this one ahead of time).

You will probably have really good mineral specimens in lab so you won't need a hand lens just yet, but you should buy one anyway (I suggest this one).

When the semester starts, spend a lot of time in lab alone looking at the minerals and memorizing a few key characteristics (name, formula, crystal habit, hardness, streak) of each one. Seriously, get used to being in there on the weekend, bring a beer (brown bag it). If you are good at identifying minerals in hand specimen, it will help out tremendously when you get into Petrology and out in the field. Don't rely on your instructor alone, look around for mineralogy websites from other universities. I found this series of lectures by Doug Haywick to be helpful.

Well, first we have to acknowledge that rocks are different than minerals. And both require different identification. For minerals, u/guaranic has given a good start. Other things to think about to add to u/guaranic are, crystal structure (what shape does it form naturally) and cleavage (how does it break, does it break straight along one plane, two?). The good news is often, though not always, these are observable and most times related. A mineral that does not break along a plane also has no cleavage which also may be a tell.

Now a mineral is composed of one type of element or compound. A rock is composed of minerals. With rocks, in order to learn identification you must first have an understanding of the three main types of rocks: Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Each produces a different rock with different things to look for.

Igneous: Igneous rocks are formed from cooling magma, literally liquid minerals. I've is a naturally forming mineral, water is its magma. When you see frost condense on a windshield on a cold day you can see points where the ice began to freeze and grow outward untill it touches another forming ice sheet. Those center points are where the crystal is seeded and how large that seed can grow will corespond with how cold it is. The colder it is the more seeds will start and more crystals with less room to grow means many small crystals. Slower cooling allows larger crystal formation with less crystals to get in the way. In igneous rocks, often crystal size is a good place to start. Are there large crystals? Than this rock most likely formed deeper in gound. Lots of tiny crystals? This probably cooled more rapidly as it approached the surface. Another thing to look at when beginning is the color of the rock over all. basltic lava is less viscous and very dark, often black. It forms oceanic crust . Andesitic lava is a mix between basaltic and rhyolitic, and produces brown and grey rocks like andesite! Rhyolitic magma is the most viscous and most common for us. It's magma doesn't flow like the stereotypical lava in movies. It forms lighter rocks, think granite. With crystal size and general mineral composition, you should be able to tell most types of igneous with some observation.

Sedimentary: sedimentary rocks are made up of broken down rock and minerals. Identification mostly comes down to partial size. However once you grab the basic size differences, the source of the material may also have a play in identification.

Metamorphic: Metamorphic rocks are igneous and sedimentary rocks that have been exposed to hi heat and pressure. This changes the organization of the crystals often times makeing foliation, a good indicator of metamorphic rock. Yet non foliated rocks do exist and are out there and may be hard to distinguish.



The best way to learn how to identify rocks and minerals is to honestly study, and practice. I like this book as a place to start. With good pictures, clear descriptions and fun facts, it was where I got my foot in the door. As well as the Audubon guid. But really once you read a little to get to know what your looking for you can start to figure it out. Although it may not always be as simple as looking at something and knowing what is. You may need to get samples and test things. Minerals may look similar. Some metamorphic rocks you might mistake for igneous. You just got to start by knowing where to look to get a good hunch and an educated guess.

The two you've listed are my personal favorites. I also make use of National Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms, 100 Edible Mushrooms, North American Mushrooms: A Field guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi (not my favorite, but a useful cross reference at times), and Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America (this one has fantastic photos. While it is never recommended to ID by appearance alone, the cross cuts and underside photos in this book can be very useful). If you live in the southern east coast then I'd recommend Mushrooms of the Southeastern United States if you can find it affordably (as far as I know it is out of print and even used coppies are pretty expensive, but it is a fantastic book for southeastern mushrooms).

As far as websites I am a pretty frequent visitor of MushroomExpert.com. It offers some good keys and there are a lot of mushrooms listed.

https://www.amazon.com/Common-Spiders-America-Richard-Bradley/dp/0520274881

Not cheap at all, but I love this book, detailed descriptions and pages of excellent drawings

You will need boxes for keeping your pinned insects in, and vials for your alcohol-preserved ones (wingless). 70% isopropyl alcohol is what I have used for preserving wingless insects, so you'll need a good bit of that too. Don't forget the pins, and maybe a couple mothballs for keeping the dermestid beetles out of your lovely collection.

For field collecting, you should have a charged kill jar (http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/ythfacts/4h/unit1/mkjar.htm) and a butterfly net at the very least. I also carry a large jar of alcohol for wingless specimens which I later separate into vials at home.

Be careful with anything you use as the active agent in the kill jar- it IS poison. Always wash your hands after handling specimens.

Oh, almost forgot books. There are a lot of good bug books but you probably want a cheaper one to serve as a field guide. Kaufman's will have a lot of the more common insects that you find (assuming you are in North America). http://www.amazon.com/Kaufman-Field-Insects-America-Guides/dp/0618153101 It's my favorite. Others swear by National Wildlife Federation's or Audubon, which are slightly more advanced. It's a personal preference.

you of course can't say with absolute certainty that this is how your ancestors lived, sure. despite using evolutionary theory, archaeology and anthropology to assist, it is on some level conjecture, that is true.

unlike the just-so posited by religions, feminists and indeed the majority of the field of sociology however, evolutionary psychology has its background in real science. it is a sort of unifying theory and is by and large based in the scientific method. there are quite a few interesting reads out there, one being "sociobiology" by edward o. wilson

I have a copy of Greg Paul's The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2010) and I like it quite a bit.. Reasonably up-to-date, lovely art, a diverse selection of dinosaurs... The only one of your criteria it doesn't meet is #4. It's a pretty bulky book.

I'm not sure if it's the most comprehensive, but The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs is really good.

Dougal Dixon's books After Man and The New Dinosaurs explore alternative evolution scenarios.

Lots of pictures.

This one?

If you lookup "after man" on amazon under books ,you will find a few like this by a couple of authors. I think dougal Dixon stole his ideas from Wayne Barlow.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0881623016/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?qid=1463770015&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=after+man&dpPl=1&dpID=51sdYb6qAfL&ref=plSrch

Or

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0312011636/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1463770015&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=after+man&dpPl=1&dpID=519Mv2qbAgL&ref=plSrch

For beetles north of Mexico, I recommend the old favourite, Peterson Field Guides: Beetles of North America. People who complain that the book should have photos instead line drawings don't know what they're talking about. Line drawings are superior for identification because diagnostic traits are more visible. The purpose of a field guide of identification, not to a pretty coffee book (if you want a pretty coffee book, The Book of Beetles is my favorite, and I have it in my living room at the moment).

For insects in general north of Mexico, I recommend the counterpart from the same series.

If you insist on photos, I recommend the National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Insects and Spiders & Related Species of North America (which, by the way, was written by a member of BugGuide.net). Since it has photos, I'd recommend it for beginners. Once they feel more comfortable with insect taxonomy, they should add the Peterson Field Guides to their collection. Avoid the popular Audubon series because it values pretty photos over practicality.

The Peterson Field Guides are great because they provide keys, diagnostic traits, similar families, collecting methods, and a plethora of amazingly detailed line drawings (and color slides). They also have great introductory material. The taxonomy is outdated, but it's not a big issue when you have online guides, like BugGuide.net, that keep their taxonomy current. The more important takeaway is that these guides will quickly teach you insect taxonomy, and you quickly develop a big-picture sense--that is, the diversity--and a granular sense--that is, the subtle difference between similar clades.

As for "state by state" guides, I have the California Natural History Guides: Field Guide to Beetles of California. There aren't line drawings like those in the Peterson Field Guides, but you do have some photographic slides in the middle section. For this, I would only recommend the book for those with enough familiarity with beetles.

Like you said, "the scope of insects is way too huge for a simple, small field guide." Many reviewers don't understand this, and complain about the lack of specificity. To satisfy their specificity, you'd probably need a guide at the city or county level (without exceeding a million pages, and assuming an entomologist is willing to take on that task LOL). Insects are so grossly misunderstood by most people (that is, most people compare the taxonomic scope of insects with that of let's say, mammals, which is like comparing travel guides for the Vatican with that of Russia--or the United States), you are better off ignoring most laymen reviews if your goal is to actually learn.

Here you go, these options should get you started.

https://www.elsevier.com/books/encyclopedia-of-insects/resh/978-0-08-054605-6?dgcid=shopping_low_priority&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7czEps2m3gIVg7rACh3HQAMzEAQYAiABEgK3lvD_BwE

https://www.amazon.com/National-Wildlife-Federation-Insects-Spiders/dp/1402741537

There's absolutely such a thing as red elderberries. They were all over our property in Olympia, WA, along with the red huckleberries in the 4th and 5th pictures. The red elderberries are supposed to be edible if they're cooked, but after I smelled them cooking I dumped them out.

Red huckleberries are extremely tart compared to the blue ones, more like a red currant, but they make good jam. They take forever to pick, though.

The first and second pictures are Saskatoon berry, also known as Pacific serviceberry.

The last picture is unripe cascara berry. I've never tried those, but in Plants of Coastal British Columbia it says they're "edible but not incredible."

This is pretty tight too

Personally I'm a big fan of Steve Marshall's book:
http://www.amazon.com/Insects-Natural-History-Diversity-Photographic/dp/1552979008

It's well written in plain english, with tons and tons of pictures. I found it extremely easy to read when I was first getting into entomology, yet very accurate and informative. Covers all the major families you're likely to run into, and works well as a field guide too (except it weighs a ton!).

Plus, since it's not technically a textbook, it's relatively cheap.

Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity by Stephen Marshall is a rather large book that gives some information on each of the orders of insects. Following the write-ups there are many pictures detailing the various families among each order with descriptions about those families. Then, toward the end of the book there is a dichotomous key that can be used to ID insects to family.


That is what was recommended in my introductory entomology class for identification, but the bulk of what I learned was from lecture materials that aren't commercially available. Hopefully other folks here might have a good idea for other books/media!

If you live in eastern North America, I highly recommend Stephen Marshall's Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity. It has a brief written overview for each insect order, and is filled with tons of captioned color photos showcasing common or interesting species. It's basically a mega field guide, so don't expect a huge amount of written discussion, but I love my copy so much!

You're missing that I didn't feel like gathering the dozen plus articles and books that researchers has been involved in, most of which are behind paywalls, so I linked to a summary figuring anyone actually interested could use the info from the article to find more. But let me Google that for you:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1080603299708483

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/170/3958/593

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.2193/2006-452/abstract

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jwmg.72/abstract

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3873165?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

https://www.amazon.com/Bear-Attacks-Causes-Avoidance-revised/dp/158574557X
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jwmg.342/full
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150925-grizzly-bears-attacks-science-animals-bear-spray/

Here's a decent book on rockhounding in Oregon:

http://www.amazon.com/Gem-Trails-Oregon-Garret-Romaine/dp/1889786446/

Get the 2009 version, not the earlier one.

https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Vengeance-Survival-Vintage-Departures/dp/0307389049

On of the best books I've ever read. It describes the utter amazement of the wildness and intelligence of the tigers (what I'd imagine most of humanity feeling towards large predators throughout time) and additionally fitting for the time, how the Russian mindset was going through the nineties.. I'd suggest reading Bill Browder's book right after this one for the follow up....

It's also a masterclass in writing about a flawed person ala Krakauer in the portrayal of the main character.

If anybody is interested in how fish think and feel then I recommend 'What a Fish Knows' by Jon Balcombe.
Although there are more than thirty thousand species of fish more than all mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians combined we rarely consider how individual fishes think, feel, and behave. Balcombe upends our assumptions about fishes, portraying them not as unfeeling, dead-eyed feeding machines but as sentient, aware, social, and even Machiavellian in other words, much like us.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Fish-Knows-Underwater-Cousins/dp/0374288216

Recommend the 2016 book, What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins by Jonathan Balcombe.

The fish I thought had the the most inquisitive look was a ancient 1.6 m Humphead (Napoleon) wrasse, who followed our group and looked at our equipment with its eye. Sadly, endangered in its home waters due to overfishing, including with explosives & cyanide, in Indonesia, the Phillipines, and Sabah Malasia.

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned yet but I highly recommend the book What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins. It goes into great depth about how a fish perceives.

Check out "What a Fish Knows" by Jonathan Balcombe (https://www.amazon.com/What-Fish-Knows-Underwater-Cousins/dp/0374537097). I just started reading it, but so far it's been a fun look at fish intelligence.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Buffalo-Search-Lost-Icon/dp/0385521693/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

http://www.amazon.com/Scavengers-Guide-Haute-Cuisine-Rinella/dp/B001Q9E9L0/ref=pd_sim_b_1

American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon documents the story of one man's trials of hunting a buffalo in 2006 after he wins a hunting lottery of a herd in Alaska near the Copper River. This was an engrossing read and the book has a parallel storyline of the history of buffalo and, particularly, human's relationship with buffalo and how it has changed over millennia. As I began to follow the author's story, I realized that it was neither a one-sided defense for hunting an endangered animal nor a biased lobbying of conservation efforts across the Great Plains; the end result is an emotional state that can only be captured by the complex and convoluted history of buffalo hunting that Steven Rinella captures succinctly and powerfully.

I got a lot out of reading Superorganism. Could be used either as reference or as something to read through.

http://www.amazon.com/Superorganism-Beauty-Elegance-Strangeness-Societies/dp/0393067041/ref=sr_1_26?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382143744&sr=1-26&keywords=ant+book

William Morton Wheeler thought of ant colonies as 'superorganisms' and thought that a colony of ants is like an 'organism.' This concept is much debated, and Holldobler and Wilson provide a more modern treatment in their recent book:

http://www.amazon.com/Superorganism-Beauty-Elegance-Strangeness-Societies/dp/0393067041/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427516536&sr=1-1&keywords=super+organism

I have a few geology guide books, but by far my favorite is my Audubon society field guide to rocks and minerals. It encompasses many different kinds of rocks and minerals, and has clear pictures of each one along with more information about various characteristics of each one, how they are formed, how to identify them, etc... The Audubon society always does a great job with their field guides, and for someone interested in geology I guarantee it will not disappoint.

Here is the link to the guide on amazon. I know the book is geared toward North America but I imagine it will still work in Europe. Enjoy!

If you just want a reference for IDing rocks in the field. This is a pretty good book for that.

If you actually want to learn about how minerals form/chemistry and structure. This textbook is a good one, but I may be biased because Dexter was my mineralogy instructor.

Audubon society book on rocks and minerals is an excellent one

http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Kuo/e/B001ILI9G2/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1603582142/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 http://www.amazon.com/The-Mushroom-Cultivator-Practical-Mushrooms/dp/0961079800/ref=pd_sim_b_8?ie=UTF8&refRID=0V56Q93CSRKQYV2W1C0B http://www.amazon.com/Mycelium-Running-Mushrooms-Help-World/dp/1580085792/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0V56Q93CSRKQYV2W1C0B http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0472030361/ref=oh_details_o04_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0472031260/ref=oh_details_o04_s01_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0394519922/ref=oh_details_o04_s01_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580085792/ref=oh_details_o04_s01_i03?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Buy an Audobon myco id book and look for deadly/noxious lookalikes in your area. Do a spore print if it's not too dry yet. Check the book for other info. Don't (don't) ask the internet if you should eat something. It's very dangerous!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0394519922/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_udIDDbVAT1XYR

These could be false morels, though I hope they aren't and you can eat a yummy meal. I would check them out on multiple sites and make a shroomery account. Also, if you plan to hunt often, Mushrooms Demystified and the Audubon Society's Mushroom Field Guide are both very necessary guides.

I'm in Eastern PA, and went to PSU Upark. I prefer the Audubon society guides, they tend to have everything that's not rare that I encounter. It worked for me up in State College and is still great here in Berks county. https://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Mushrooms/dp/0394519922/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541772740&sr=8-1&keywords=audobon+guide+mushrooms Also it's not heavy and it's always in my backpack.

This is the one I use. It’s pretty complete and not too expensive.

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms (National Audubon Society Field Guides) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0394519922/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_kWQQBbB92MYGP

Mushrooms Demystified is a great reference but when i'm out in the woods I like something a little less brick-like. NAS Field Guide is my constant companion when I venture off into the trees.

Look into local chapters of the mycological society or mushroom hunting groups/clubs in your area. This site lists a few options. Looks like the one in Albion may be near-ish to you.

I've also found many of the links in the sidebar helpful, especially mushroom observer and the mushroom hunting and identification forum on The Shroomery. The Shroomery's ID forum is where I go to confirm my suspected ID's after keying out specimens on my own.

I use Mushrooms Demystified, by David Arora, as a my post collection ID book. It's both huge and dated (i think it's latest edition is from the early or mid 80's) so it's functionality as a field guide or the final word in ID is lacking. Even so, it is good to learn to work through dichotomous keys like the ones that it employs and it usually gets you headed in the right direction. Other guides like Rogers Mushrooms, All the Rain Promises and More, and The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms are good resources, too (I'm sure other folks can add to this list, I'm just dropping the names that first come to mind).

As much as I clash with some of his professional/ethical decisions, Paul Stamets has contributed a ton to the accessibility of Mycology to the masses. Check out Mycelium Running and Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms as introductions to the Fifth Kingdom.

I'm also really enjoying Tradd Cotter's new book, Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation

Fungi for the People and The Radical Mycology Collective have also been hugely influential in my personal growth as an amateur mycologist. If you ever get a chance to attend any of their events, I would recommend doing it.

Best of luck and enjoy your journey!

https://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Mushrooms/dp/0394519922

Here is a great little (PDF) guide for Ohio that covers a lot of common NE species

The 2 most popular books are these:

Common Spiders of North America (Bradley)

Spiders of North America (Ubick, et al.)

The Bradley book is probably the more accessible of the two.

edit: fixed first link

I'd also suggest ditching the Audubon guide. Quite frankly, it's rubbish. Poorly organized, and a number of the photos are incorrectly ID'd. I highly recommend the Kauffman Guide to Insects by Eric Eaton for a broad overview of North American insect fauna.

Otherwise, if you're focusing on butterflies, the Peterson guides are quite useful. The eastern and western volumes by Opler are both useful, but lack quality keys.

The recently revised Peterson guide to Northeastern moths by Beadle & Leckie is impressive in its coverage (but by no means comprehensive) but similarly lacks any sort of useful key for identification.

If you're looking for other field guide recommendations, I'd be happy to share!

The best field guide in the US is the Kaufman insect guide, hands down

I use the Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America.

[You can preview it here] (https://books.google.com/books?id=aWVi0IF_jcQC&pg=PA302&lpg=PA302&dq=Ocyptamus+fascipennis&source=web&ots=N-2Sq3PNbM&sig=B7-AH3uIPt40SJtTr_v1SIKNdFA&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result#v=onepage&q&f=false) to see if it's got everything you're looking for.

He should read this book.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0674002350/epubelectronpubl

Please read. In this book, E.O. Wilson (is he a good enough source?) says that human females tend to be higher than males in empathy, verbal skills, social skills and security-seeking, among other things.

Throwing some more biology at ya

http://cercor.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/3/534.full

So does that help? Or by me saying that women are more emotionally invested than men just another misogynistic generalization?

I love my The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, it reminds me of that connection everyday. So many skeletons, so much evidence, so many great illustrations, if only more people were aware.

The Earth's historical climate would pass mostly the same as it actually did. There would have been a warm period in the Eocene, and an ice age in the Pleistocene. The continents would have moved into the same configuration they are now.

Dinosaurs would have changed greatly over the millions of years and it's impossible to predict what they would have evolved into but look up the book The New Dinosaurs By Dougal Dixon for some speculative evolution fun .

No problem! There was a reprint of After Man in 2018, and it's affordable under $40. Man After Man has indeed been out of print since 1990 and is fairly pricey between $100-300. Dougal Dixon has many other books too such has The New Dinosaurs, If Dinosaurs Were Alive Today, and many other dinosaur related books (many for children.) Most of these are out of print as well and are expensive, but worth it if you're really interested. Maybe you could luck out at your local library and just rent them.

There is however a rare book he made that was only released in Japan for some reason (and of course it's the most badass one) called Greenworld (グリーン・ワールド) about humanity colonizing an alien world and taming certain inhabitants. Although I've never seen Greenworld for sale on English sites, if you know how to order from Amazon Japan you can find the two books in the series for less than $20 a piece.

I linked to some PDF's in my original comment if buying isn't an option.

This is what i have been reading, unlike most other books this one has excellent photos in it.

This one? I've used it a lot and it's quite good.
Edit: Amazon says "May 31st 2007" so I'm not sure if that's the publication date or just the date it became available on Amazon but that makes me think it's probably not this one. This is a good guide so if you can't find the one you had in the 90's I'd recommend either this one or the Kaufman field guide.

Plants of Coastal British Columbia is pretty much the standard for coastal BC tree/plant ID. And the BC Tree Book is a real simple one to understand with only native BC tree species.

[Plants of Coastal British Columbia: Including Washington, Oregon and Alaska by Jim Pojar]
(https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1551055325/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1977604502&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1594853665&pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_r=ZE56QP0A00SH8K6G23SM)This book here is my holy bible for foraging and IDs. I know you are in Oregon, but I'm on Vancouver Island which is practically in the US and as west coast as it gets. Many of the plants growing where I am grow in parts of Oregon too. Consider fining this book or one similar. IMO a good Id book with images is the most important thing to carry with you (aside from gloves and a pocket knife).



Here are a few books I do not own but have read or heard people recommend.

Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West by Michael Moore

Pacific Northwest Foraging by Douglas Deur

Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods From Dirt to Plate by John Kallas

Also not specific to just edible plants, http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/1551055325/ref=pd_aw_sim_b_2?pi=SL500_SY115 is one of my fav identification guides & has lots of details on what's edible.

Same here. I just used my old entomology textboook, Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity, which is one of the best textbooks I've ever bought. They have a limited section on non-insect arthropods and the Dimorphic Jumping Spider was the closest match I could find.

I also moved mobile homes a couple times out in Bedford as a summer job this year and saw a few of these guys. There were False Black Widows all over the place, but I had these spiders and Bold Jumpers crawling over me all day, too.

I disagree with much of this advice. I live and hike in black and grizzly bear country and have never had a bad encounter with a bear. We have to respect them and take precautions, but fear of bears shouldn't keep people out of the woods. They're really not rampaging monsters waiting to attack people.

Forget cans of rocks or ineffective "bear bells". Use your voice to alert bears to your presence. Talk loudly when necessary. "HEY BEAR! COMING THROUGH!" They can recognize a human voice and will usually avoid us. If you're really worried, try to travel in groups of 3 or more.

If you see a bear, stop and stay calm. Don't run. Don't immediately act threatening. Threatening a bear that's defending a carcass or that has young cubs nearby is asking for trouble.

Bears and bear encounters are too complicated for a TLDR. If you want to know how to live and play safely in bear country you have to put some time in learning about bears. They're amazing animals, so in my opinion, it is time well spent.

The best scientific examination of bear encounters is Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance by Dr. Stephen Herrerro, I'd recommend it for anyone living or playing in grizzly country. I read through my copy every spring.

Here's what Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks has to say about encountering a bear.

I guess it comes down to perspective, but I love seeing bears (from a safe distance) and I'm thankful for every opportunity I've had to observe these amazing animals.

> If bears are not accustomed to people near where you'll be staying, there is no need to worry about them - unless there are grizzlies.

Yes! This is the advice from Stephen Herrero, a biologist who's studied bears for decades. He says bears are much less likely to be a problem at non-established campsites. Of course, in many national parks, you're required to camp at designated sites.

I bought this book and read it. I feel much better after reading it.

http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Attacks-Causes-Avoidance-revised/dp/158574557X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1451582639&sr=1-1&keywords=bear+attacks

I recommend you purchase this book, read it, start a collection, and identify all of your specimens using the keys inside the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Borror-DeLongs-Introduction-Study-Insects/dp/0030968356

Leptoglossus looks pretty close. It seems the standard introductory text that everyone uses is this book. I would recommend trying to find it used.

Go and pick up "Borror and DeLongs Introduction to the Study of Insects" (https://www.amazon.com/Borror-DeLongs-Introduction-Study-Insects/dp/0030968356)

It is where all entomologist begin and this book is essential in the field (i.e. you will always use this book, need this book). Stay away from field guides at the beginning if you're serious about becoming an entomologist, they have pretty pictures and are good for outreach but honestly, kind of useless unless you only want to identify the charismatic taxa that you'll likely already know. Eventually you'll figure out that a field guide leads to more misidentification than accurate identification.

First thing you'll want to learn is the structure of taxonomy and the Insect Orders, that'll put you on the path to learning Latin. Get to a point that you can identify any insect to order almost immediately. Once there pick an order to focus on learning families, pick something you like. If you want a challenge go for Diptera.

So, get the book and learn the orders, go out and look at bugs and practice identifying to Order. Honestly you probably won't have any luck volunteering at a museum or research laboratory. It's just not worth a researchers time to train a volunteer, sorry but it's the truth.
Good luck!

Buy a local field guide. Then if that fails... http://www.amazon.com/Borror-DeLongs-Introduction-Study-Insects/dp/0030968356

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0030968356?pc_redir=1411850440&robot_redir=1

Borrer and Delong might have larval keys to family but it has been so long since I looked at the book that I can't remember.

Why is your Prof requiring family identification for larvae. That is a bit cruel for a general ento class.

Tigers are far more badass IMO. Check out this book; https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Vengeance-Survival-Vintage-Departures/dp/0307389049/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518460048&sr=1-4&keywords=tiger

The subject matter is a little narrow, but you should read "The Tiger" by John Valliant. Very well constructed and i learned some stuff... not about deep things like life and why we live and where we came from... but certainly a learning experience.

This is an amazing book on tigers.

This one, I'd assume? Looks interesting, thanks!

link for the lazy reader

Naturally, the ebook is MORE than the paperback. WHY WHY WHY?

This article is highlighting this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Vengeance-Survival-Vintage-Departures/dp/0307389049

Totally legit, a very enjoyable read.

The best possible outcome is to never see a tiger in the wild. You'll live longer that way.

There an amazing book based on a true story of a man eating Siberan tiger's vengeful behavior in Russia by John Vaillant. https://www.amazon.com/Tiger-Vengeance-Survival-Vintage-Departures/dp/0307389049

I recommend The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant.

It's the true story of a man-eating tiger (which some of the locals believed was out for revenge against the hunter that tried to kill it) and the hunt to kill it. The book also touches on humans evolving in a world of tigers and bit of Russian history. There are lots of really good side stories to keep you interested, too.

Poor fish.. Please educate yourselves about fish sentience and sensory systems. A great resource on the topic: https://www.amazon.com/What-Fish-Knows-Underwater-Cousins/dp/0374288216 A free read to start getting to know our scaly fellow earthlings: https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/factory-farming/fish/fish-feel-pain/

Also if you are interested in learning more about buffalo here is a good read. I believe OP's picture is in the book as well as some other good ones.

I'm not, I've read several books and academic papers on the history of the American Buffalo. So have a read an correct yourself.

https://fee.org/articles/buffaloed-the-myth-and-reality-of-bison-in-america/

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2079530?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

https://www.amazon.com/American-Buffalo-Search-Lost-Icon/dp/0385521693

https://www.amazon.com/American-Serengeti-Animals-Great-Plains/dp/070062466X

https://www.amazon.com/Destruction-Bison-Environmental-1750-1920-Environment/dp/0521003482

I heard this guy speak in Austin a few years ago. The book has been on my to-do list.

If you like Bison, you should see about stopping at the National Buffalo Museum in Jamestown then. There's some white (albino) buffalo there, some offspring of White Cloud I believe. Sometimes you can see them as you're driving by on I-94, but there's a lot of information and history in the museum.

I'd also recommend Steven Rinella's book: American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon, which can be picked up at the museum.

No, but it WAS by the same author! I found this book, which was the one! Thanks!

Yeah the superorganism idea is pretty cool, there is a must read book if you are interested in that kind of thing.

http://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Minerals/dp/0394502698

For books:

• Someone the other day posted [this link] (http://earthds.info/) to a basic introductory textbook which may tide you over.
  -I find this field book to be the best newbie friendly to "what's that rock?"
  
• Raiding your local thrift store/used books for anything geology related may help.
  
  Get your students to talk about geology they've seen in their life to connect it to what's being taught in lecture. I'm learning more about the natural history and geology of my home city of L.A. on the opposite coast than I did living there for half my life by talking in class.

I think the layered rock is sedimentary, the regular patterns indicate seasonal depositions. So it is sort of like tree rings. There are some good books on rocks, you will learn a lot more by reading a few.

I've used this one in the field

National Audubon American Mushrooms

I like this book:

http://www.amazon.com/North-American-Mushrooms-Inedible-Falconguide/dp/0762731095/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1409688221&sr=8-6&keywords=mushrooms+of+north+america

I don't like this book:

http://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Mushrooms/dp/0394519922/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409688242&sr=8-1&keywords=audubon+mushrooms

I did this on Friday:

http://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/comments/2f9lbx/prelabor_day_haul_10_variety_30_lbs/

If you can get your hand on an Audubon's Guide, they're sort of the gold standard for identifying and harvesting in the PNW.
Here's a link to their mushroom guide

This is a valuable book to own:

https://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Mushrooms/dp/0394519922/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1D1IB9DI2107O&keywords=mushroom+identification+field+guide&qid=1559310910&s=gateway&sprefix=mushroom+ident%2Caps%2C136&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

I have this one

And

[This one] (http://www.amazon.com/All-That-Rain-Promises-More/dp/0898153883/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418146439&sr=1-1&keywords=all+that+the+rain+promises)

And they are working pretty good to get me started.

This book is your bible. It's what I used for my mycology course.

National Audubon Society Field Guide

Well if you like in North America you can check out this awesome book! I have it and it is amazing, warning alittle bit pricey.

Local field guides can be a good investment. One introductory book is Spiders and Their Kin (Golden Guide). Another is Common Spiders of North America.

On Spiders.us, I posted this list of online resources: Spider ID Resources.

The best way to improve is to practice. Try to identify the spiders you find, and submit photos for confirmation/correction of your ID. It's also good practice to try to respond to ID requests on sites like /r/spiders. (If you don't feel very confident in your ID, you can say that.)

If you're not sure how someone reached a particular conclusion, ask for clarification. Many of us are willing to elaborate but just get in the habit of not doing so.

I'm not certain about what kind of detail you are looking for, but this book is really the only I use. I have a minor in entomology, and I have several textbooks that have much more detail, but this is the one I pick up most often, especially for helping folks in /r/whatsthisbug. :)

For a general bird guide, I like the Sibley guide (you can use the Sibley East field guide, or the larger Sibley guide for all of North America). There are also those who swear by the National Geographic guide and insist that it is superior.

That should be good to get you started – eventually if you get more into birdwatching, then there are more detailed guides for specific groups.

For insects, I love this massive photographic guide. For a smaller book you can take into the field, the best one I know of is Kaufman. There is also a Kaufman guide for butterflies, specifically.

I'm afraid I don't have any recommendations for mammals, reptiles, or amphibians for your area.

I use the Kaufman field guide to insects of north america to identify insects at least down to the family level. It doesnt have every species, but it has the most common ones from each family and very good pictures imo. It can be ordered on amazon here https://www.amazon.com/Kaufman-Field-Insects-America-Guides/dp/0618153101

http://www.amazon.com/Sociobiology-New-Synthesis-Twenty-fifth-Anniversary/dp/0674002350

> I believe people do act selflessly everyday but I don’t think I makes rational sense to live this way. Why would I ever serve anyone’s ends other than my own

To put it bluntly, this isn't what the word "rational" means. Rationality is about taking the optimal path to a specified goal. It doesn't say anything about what that goal is. And that goal is always subjective and arbitrary, regardless of whether you are rational about achieving it.

So, in economics, they often talk about the rational, profit-maximizing business strategy. But "rational" and "profit-maximizing" are totally different things - maximizing profit is a subjective goal, and there are less and more rational ways to achieve it. I could just as easily talk about the rational cost-minimizing business strategy, which is a different objective that recommends a different path. Or an irrational profit-maximizing strategy that is clearly inferior for that goal.

So I dismiss your implicit claim that you are being more "rational" than an altruist who gives away all his money to the poor, because that's conflating the objective idea of rational decision-making with a subjective goal.

As a result, there's not really much for us to argue about, because it's not clear exactly how you've gotten to your conclusion, besides a misunderstanding of the word rational.

If you want to get into an empirical argument about humans, I think there's plenty of evidence that can change your view.

• Humans are exceptionally cooperative and selfless among all life on earth. Very few organisms are as gregarious as humans or live in societies as large, and those that do are similarly oriented around "selfless" behaviors like participating in warfare.
  
• humans are exceptionally selfless compared to other primates. Chimpanzees and bonobos live in dominance hierarchies in which the strong regularly appropriate the resources of the weak. As much as you can condemn human parallels like piracy and slavery, our species norm seems to be egalitarian forager groups that look nothing like chimp troops.
  
• in social experiments, humans regularly forgo benefits because they perceive them as "unfair" to someone else. This is true for humans across cultures and across environments, even when taking the pot is clearly the rational "selfish" strategy.
  
• under the right circumstances, humans are reliably willing to sacrifice their lives for non-kin, or even for abstract entities like nations or religions. The last three US Medal of Honor recipients died by literally jumping on hand grenades to save the lives of their fellow soldiers.
  
  It's no good to say people who jump on hand grenades or donate blood are "really" selfish because it makes them feel better or something, because you've essentially defined "selfish" to be "anything people do". If you take a stricter, more commonplace definition of selfish like "consistently chooses one's own material benefits at the expense of others'", then no, humans are exceptionally non-selfish among organisms on our planet.

> The fact that you refuse to acknowledge that the Imperialist expansion was a direct consequence of Capitalism

And the deaths caused by imperialist Islam, imperialist communism and imperialist Rome (Everything else which was 'imperialist' too) were caused by capitalism as well? Oh yeah, 80,000,000 Hindu's dying off was all those capitalist Muslim pigs, right? The violent purges of Kulaks and opposition in the USSR under Stalin was all capitalism's fault, right guys? (Marxist bullshit #1.)

> You are not only a libtard apologist for Capitalism but also an incredibly big Islamophobe (Leftist bullshit #1.)

From what I've read of the last paragraph, for example: 'what are you, a fucking Neo-Nazi?', you're starting to make this seem more and more like it is actually used. There is nothing wrong with being against Islam, and that certainly doesn't make me scared (phobia) of Islam.

> It would've happened anyway! Just a coincidence that it was the Capitalists who started the colonization

It wasn't a coincidence, it was the fact that The West (And it wasn't even capitalist at the time, it was dominantly feudalistic, capitalism being a huge minority in places such as Venice and The Hanseatic League) was much more technologically ahead of everyone else, primarily due to Orthodox scholars after the expulsion of Constantinople and the end of the ERE. If Asia had have managed to be this 'enlightened', they would've colonized first, and considering the brutal nature of their culture in regards to honor (Especially for Japan), a lot more would've died. Not saying I dislike the Japanese though, that's just the facts. Christianity and European culture did spare a lot of people, although definitely not everyone just as no-one else would've.

> Socialism seeks to eliminate such problems. Capitalism does not. More food is being produced now than the number of consumers of the same, yet millions are still dying of starvation. (Marxist bullshit #2. Not even one-million Westerners die each year of starvation.)

Capitalism seeks to give people economic liberty as I said before, socialism seeks to take it away and give all economic power to the state. If we don't have freedom, what do we have? Oh, nice living conditions for everyone, but is it really worth it? Not everything in life is about pleasure, there are always the downtrodden and there are always the successful, this doesn't even only apply to humans, look at ape species for example.

> Case in point, the Irish potato famine. (Marxist bullshit #3)

How do you expect a new administrative body to get absolutely everything correct when the previous one was a disaster? "a starving population, an absentee aristocracy, and an alien Church, and in addition the weakest executive in the world." As Disraeli said. There were also plenty of inquisition which forecast this sort of disaster occurring due to a rapidly increasing population, etc.

> Cipla, an Indian pharmaceutical firm, once offered to sell HIV/AIDS drugs at dirt cheap rates to Africa, where the HIV virus is rampant. [etc]

I can't speak for corporations and never said they were in the right. There are laws that you can implement within a capitalist economy to limit these sorts of things. America is pretty rampant with corruption though.

> This is Capitalism; no regard to human life over profit. (Marxist bullshit #4.)

Why did George Bush pledge, what was it, something like $60billion USD to attempt to help cure aids in Africa then? I don't support him generally, but he's not all-bad as a lot of people like to make him out.

> The FDI you talk of is no more than that; that is, stagnant firms looking out for new avenues to increase their profit margins, and in the process creating a global hegemony.

Just as what people thought was occurring in Europe in the 19th century, and look what actually happened.

> It seems you have no idea of how these things work. The major corporations who outsource their production units are not angels. Where I live, the corporations buy off the land of the farmers by offering them minuscule compensation, and then force them to work in the factory. [etc]

First of all, I never claimed they were angels, or even good for that matter. And are the families really forced to sell their land by foreign entities? That sounds like a breaching of state-sovereignty to me.

Secondly, isn't this the road to industrialisation and modernisation as it was in Europe? To properly develop an economy you need people working in factories to get it off the ground. Seeing as the majority are peasants and farmers, you get them to the factories to speed this process up. With colonies too now you hopefully have a large source of grain in-case you need it, just as in today's developing economies they import from already modernised nations which have excess grain they need to sell.

> Economic liberty is not the same as economic equality. There are bound to be losers and winners in such a system. [and it doesn't have to be this way] (Marxist bullshit #5. Arguing against biology, Marxism's fundamental contradiction and enemy.)

I never said it was. Economic equality is not the base state of a nation though. There are bound to be losers and winners in any situation when there is no force applied. I feel like I'm using sociobiology a lot, but in the wild some hunters are more skilled than others and are able to survive where others are not. Being successful and passing your genetics on is what really matters, despite the fact that it's very shrouded in our advanced minds behind many things, and prone to outside corruption. You can be envious of those who are better off than yourself (Which is mostly what socialism/Marxism is) or you can embrace it and attempt to do better yourself. I assure you the feeling of achievement is much, much more satisfying than living in a cesspit of degeneracy, hedonism and pleasure that is communism's end belief.

> And, please for god's sake, don't delve into the human nature topic. There is nothing "basic" about human nature. The argument that the human beings are inherently greedy is just liberal horse shit (liberal bullshit instance #3) It's as dogmatic as the creationists' argument that human beings were created with a certain set of qualities. (Again, Marxist bullshit #5. Arguing against biology, Marxism's fundamental contradiction and enemy.) If we are the result of evolution then it's in no way possible for us to have a certain set of intrinsic qualities.

Well I would say arguing that human nature is fundamentally peaceful and good-intentioned is Marxist horse-shit number six. The one thing if anything that halts our violent intentions towards our own people somewhat is the advent of religion and morals. I would recommend reading this: http://www.amazon.com/Sociobiology-Synthesis-Twenty-Fifth-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0674002350

This is quite a bit more voluminous than the other things you sent me, but definitely worth the read even if you initially disagree with it. Marxism is fundamentally anti-science and anti-progression in this sense. I mean what would you have? Genetically engineer human brains so that everyone is equal just so that you don't feel left out?

> Why can't you believe in equality? Or is the supposed "basic" trait of humankind, "greed", very strong in you? [etc]

I don't believe in equality because, frankly, it's unrealistic. I don't think greed is very strong in me either, I know others that are very greedy who I've lived with for a long time and still don't know why, it's perhaps a genetic trait or social context thing from when they were younger. I can definitely agree with fraternity and cooperation (to some extent) though, that's one thing we have in common I suppose. That is one of capitalism's internal weak-points.

Social liberty just leads to the moral corruption that is viral in today's world, if people don't have a set of guidelines or a proper belief in something better to get them through life, most fall prey to vices around now-days.

> Yes, I hope you'd read ALL these texts before replying again. They're voluminous:

From looking at these I can say two of them have no sources whatsoever to back up their claims. Constant defensive statements such as: "It is interesting to see how Western propaganda, via Robert Conquest, has lied about the purges of the Red Army." simply have nothing to back them up. Text #2, 'Did Mao really kill millions', cites highly biased pro-Marxist sources almost exclusively. You can see today in China that the people are not treated nicely (to say the least) by the government and it is relatively highly developed, just imagine what would've been happening during the rapid push for modernization.

As for the table in the one about Stalin's apparent innocence: I doubt that includes simple execution without even being sent to gulags. I mean, where did they even get that table? I tried searching around the internet and couldn't find it anywhere. Are you sure it wasn't forged? That was about the only evidence they were using to back up their claims and I can't really see much truth in it.

I'm in the same boat as you and have been researching on Amazon. So far I've come up with:

http://www.amazon.com/Princeton-Field-Guide-Dinosaurs-Guides/dp/069113720X

http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Prehistoric-Animals-Smithsonian-Handbooks/dp/0789493616/

http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Complete-Up-Date-Encyclopedia/dp/0375824197/

http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaurs-Concise-Natural-David-Fastovsky/dp/052171902X/

I’m a fan of this book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/069113720X/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1520221912&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=princeton+dinosaurs&dpPl=1&dpID=510YxguboxL&ref=plSrch

I used to read "The New Dinosaurs" as a kid. It's an alternative evolutionary path that dinosaurs might have taken. Has some killer illustrative work to boot!

The New Dinosaurs: An Alternative Evolution https://www.amazon.com/dp/0881623016/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_uGy5ybRMCQV98

Error catastrophe is not the same as genetic entropy: they would look related to a layman, suggesting error catastrophe is the acute form.

However, like many forms of poisoning, the chronic form doesn't exist: there are mechanisms in play that prevent this, mechanisms ignored in his simulations -- and his H1N1 work redefines fitness in order to make the data fit his hypothesis.

But if you're willing to look past that, you might shell out $20 for his book. Real science isn't sold in $20 increments, however.

This is where I find creationism overlaps with conspiracy. He tells you there's a problem, then sells you a book on it.

---

Posted by: D***i

I use the National wildlife federation's field guide. It is by no means exhaustive but it helps me identify most things. The pictures are great.
https://www.amazon.com/National-Wildlife-Federation-Insects-Spiders/dp/1402741537/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1402741537&pd_rd_r=CYNBQ573JKYM4SCS4W21&pd_rd_w=7e5Oe&pd_rd_wg=VTINW&psc=1&refRID=CYNBQ573JKYM4SCS4W21

Here are a few to get you started, some maybe be textbooks or textbook like, but they're incredibly informative:

Insects:

• Bugs Rule!: An Introduction to the World of Insects
  
• [Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity: With a Photographic Guide to Insects of Eastern North America]
  (http://smile.amazon.com/Insects-Natural-History-Diversity-Photographic/dp/1552979008/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413144193&sr=1-12&keywords=insect+evolution)
  
• The Buzz about Bees
  
  Evolution:
  
  
• Evolution
  
• Evolution, 3rd Edition (different book than above)
  
• Evolution: The First Four Billion Years
  
• The Selfish Gene

I'd like to add that you should definitely get a field guide to insects that is relevant to your area. Being able to ID what you catch at least to order or family will make the whole thing more enjoyable and will help you learn what you are catching. If you can afford it this is a FANTASTIC book with a ton of photos that is appropriate to your area.

The best thing you can do is become familiar with the terminology. This book was useful for looking up various nomenclatures on certain body parts or regions, like which veins are which on wings. Otherwise This book had some good keys in it, but it's primarily description based, and many other keys I've used beyond it are this way as well. For the book, it was convenient that it had many pictures to reference in earlier chapters if you wanted some visual confirmation you were on the right path in the key. Otherwise, I'd suggest getting with the professor and asking for sources they might suggest to become better with the terminology.

The keys I've used with as many pictures as descriptions were constrained to species-level ID of one insect. There might be some sources you can find with some internet searches, though those aren't so easy to find all the time.
Bugguide.net might be a resource you can consider, though it doesn't act as a key, and is more useful if you are already familiar with the different types of insects and their classifications.

link One of the better sources I've seen on the subject.

Buddy of mine spends a lot of time outdoors, have me this book when I went to Alaska. I feel like it was very comprehensive. https://www.amazon.com/Bear-Attacks-Causes-Avoidance-revised/dp/158574557X

Worth a read, just don't freak yourself out. https://www.amazon.com/Bear-Attacks-Causes-Avoidance-revised/dp/158574557X/

Well first, I said he was claiming that running away was safe, I noticed that he advocated standing your ground.

But second, the question is, why not run in this case? The two main reasons bears attack are self defence and because they see something as prey. In a bear encounter, you have to balance your activity so that you appear as neither. If running away doesn't make you view the bear as prey, it sure doesn't make them view you as a threat. So it would seem to be by far the best course of action if it were true.

And third, it's false. Running will cause a bear to chase you, as demonstrated by a good number of incidents. I'll try to remember to edit this to cite a few of them when I get back home to my book, which I would incidentally advise for anyone interested in the subject.

Hangry Hangry Horses

http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Equines-Shocking-Meat-Eating-Murderous/dp/1590480031

Listened to an excellent interview with the author of this book... http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Equines-Shocking-Meat-Eating-Murderous/dp/1590480031

Enjoy!

Has no one ever read Meat Eating Horses? Though it seems that most meat eating by horses is because of our own animal husbandry and in a lot of instances because a completely vegetarian diet would have resulted in easier deaths for horses that were brought to the most extreme climates. Well, and then the war horses but that was just us teaching them to be dicks.

https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Equines-Shocking-Meat-Eating-Murderous/dp/1590480031

Are you so sure about equines?

Also, one should book dragons under extreme omnivore, considering their geophagy.

Get yourself a copy of Tim Fisher's Ore-Rock-On DVD (http://www.orerockon.com/) or a copy of "Gem Trails of Oregon" (http://www.amazon.com/Gem-Trails-Oregon-Garret-Romaine/dp/1889786446) by Garrett Romaine (NOT the old version by Mitchell, it's WAY out of date). The Ore-Rock-On DVD is way more intensive and has maps, GPS coordinates, etc for Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

My mom lives in Parkdale, so I've rockhounded in the area a bit. Shellrock Mountain is off the side of I-84 at or around the 56-57 milepost marker, people apparently find little amethyst crystals and several zeolite minerals, though I've only ever found tiny little bits of datolite, never found any amethyst myself. Aside from that and off the top of my head, there's the Dalles exit from I-84 where little pineapple calcites can be found, Biggs Junction - the origin of world famous Biggs picture jasper, and many other places near by. The Gorge area is rife with good rocks.

There's certainly plenty of places to do that here. Lots of places to look at fossils in museums and displays as well. My grandpa did lots of rockhounding many years ago, there's so many great places to do that in Oregon. You might check out Gem Trails of Oregon for some maps and hot spots.

https://www.amazon.com/Human-Nature-new-Preface-Revised/dp/0674016386

https://www.amazon.com/Sociobiology-New-Synthesis-Twenty-Fifth-Anniversary/dp/0674002350

https://www.amazon.com/Blank-Slate-Modern-Denial-Nature/dp/1501264338

https://www.amazon.com/Open-Society-Its-Enemies/dp/0691158134

Here's a start. All these were instrumental in dismantling communist ideology.

Not really. Professor John Sanford of Cornell U. is a genetic researcher and he became a Christian as a result of his studies of the human genome. The genetic evidence points to what we see in the Bible. So there is recent established academic work supporting what the Bible shows. There is a lot of info online about it. I'd check that out and if it really interests you, here's the book.

> Genetic Entropy presents compelling scientific evidence that the genomes of all living creatures are slowly degenerating - due to the accumulation of slightly harmful mutations. This is happening in spite of natural selection.

https://www.amazon.com/Genetic-Entropy-John-C-Sanford/dp/0981631606

My argument is about recessive mutations not being effected by natural selection, and not about slightly harmful mutations occurring in spite of natural selection.

Ok, let's check one of the claims of the video. The video claims John Sanford's work was featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Hmm:

http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1167048

And is Sanford a Creationist? Hmm:
https://www.amazon.com/Genetic-Entropy-John-C-Sanford/dp/0981631606/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496295434&sr=8-1&keywords=genetic+entropy

And it is seems Dzugavili thinks he knows better than a Ivy League famous geneticist of 40 years. Dzugavili's counter to Sanford?

> I got a dick and balls.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateEvolution/comments/61xm6h/darwins_delusion_vs_death_of_the_fittest_or_i/