The black widow spider is notorious for eating her mate as they copulate, but how many of us know much more than that about this beautiful, mysterious, spider?
Grice collects black widows and keeps them in jars and studies them, and he tells us more than we care to know at times. But it is not just black widows that interest Grice, it is rattlesnakes, praying mantis, tarantula, pigs, dogs, and the recluse spider.
The Lives of the Predators is fascinating, strange, and scary, all at the same time. Grice writes with such vivid imagery that you can almost feel the hairy tarantula, and hear the particular sound of the black widows web as you brush through it.
Grice mixes us a venomous cocktail of personal accounts and tall tales; gruesome historic details that may have you questioning if you will ever eat pork again, and yet on the other hand he reveals how seemingly close humans still are to the animal kingdom.
As humans we feel that we are at the top of the food chain and that we have no natural predators who relish our flesh, but wait, that is not true at all! History reveals that as early as biblical times swine have eaten human corpses; in Africa leopards dine on humans regularly; and dogs are more dangerous to us than the wolf.
Grice's knowledge and research are impeccable. His interest in the life and death of his subjects is sometimes morbidly sadistic and it brings to mind an image of little boys who delight in tossing a poor grasshopper into a jar of red ants. But beside the morbidity is a side dish of humor when he describes the story of a man who was supposedly eaten by his hogs as, "?the man was old; he died of a heart attack or a stroke while feeding the pigs; and 'nothing was left of him but the shoes.' ?You have to be particularly suspicious of the heart attack diagnosed from the shoes."
After reading this book you will come away with a different awareness of both the animal kingdom and the insect world, and you can no longer look at a spider or a pig the same way, or your dog for that matter.
Copyright 2005 Cindy DeJager
Cindy DeJager owns Rosetta Stone Press, a publisher of metaphysical and mystical books. She writes book reviews of old and rare books, as well as sends out a monthly newsletter to local bookstores and libraries. You can find her reviews on her website at http://www.rosettastonepress.com
"Druxel Manor is a stimulating thriller-mystery-romance novel that keeps the... Read More
Explore what goes into a company's transformation from mediocre to... Read More
Please Don't Just Do What I Tell You, Do What... Read More
You've got the bright ideas and the smart people, and... Read More
"Dawn Josephson, author of 14 books, has written a fantastic... Read More
Teenage years for Russ Whitney were not filled with opportunity,... Read More
"Retired professor of Microbiology, Harry Gilleland certainly has a variety... Read More
Don't panic. Jack Mitchell, the author of Hug Your Customers:... Read More
There has been a lot of publicity lately centered on... Read More
A missionary and his family were forced to camp outside... Read More
You look at the salesletter and the price tag ($8.95... Read More
Just think. If the Vikings had made just that little... Read More
Kiss, Bow, Or Shake Hands: How To Do Business In... Read More
Blue's Clues for Success: The 8 Secrets Behind A Phenomenal... Read More
Finite Capacity Scheduling by Gerhard Plenert PhD and Bill KirchmeirI... Read More
Fading Toward Enlightenment by Wayne Wirs is definitely a well... Read More
Media Star Power: ABCs to Successful TV, Radio, Print &... Read More
In James Martell's Affiliate Handbook, he mentions that he focuses... Read More
Dragon Tales by Mary C. Fairbanks is truly and entertaining... Read More
Over the years, several books and countless magazine and newspaper... Read More
What Color is Your Parachute? Reviewed by: Matt Keegan ©... Read More
Jack Welsh, the recently retired CEO of General Electric, presents... Read More
Unfortunately, I have seen too many of even the most... Read More
Chapter one: Baby on the doorstep.It was one of those... Read More
Author Joseph Yakel is leading a two-pronged charge to provide... Read More
Tony F. Powell is the author of a new book... Read More
MONEY WITHOUT MATRIMONY: The Unmarried Couples Guide to Financial Security,... Read More
The Seventh Jewel is a fantasy-adventure fiction geared for youth... Read More
For those of you who've been on another planet for... Read More
The Leadership Pill is another volume for those of you... Read More
"Within the first few pages, I was engrossed and deeply... Read More
Kashmir has been a reason for at least three wars... Read More
John C. Maxwell is back again in Thinking for a... Read More
Primal leadership takes center stage in this book. This concept... Read More
Sir Isaac Newton knew about the Bible code 300 hundred... Read More
Don't panic. Jack Mitchell, the author of Hug Your Customers:... Read More
"Author of two books and many short stories, J.P. Ransom... Read More
"Dorinne Davis has written many books that concentrate on the... Read More
Oswald Spengler predicted a protracted winter in The Decline of... Read More
Businesses are run mostly on auto-pilot and any problem areas... Read More
Spread the word about your hot new product or company!Word-of-mouth... Read More
"Sorat's evil will be spread by his infernal army of... Read More
The Power of 2: Win Big with People in Your... Read More
Title: Critical Condition: How Health Care In America Became Big... Read More
You look at the salesletter and the price tag ($8.95... Read More
Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life is another book focusing... Read More
On the Brink of Risk is a fiction novel inspired... Read More
The Big IdeaA lot of people consider selling a very... Read More
Sportcraft Treadmills - Lowww EndSportcraft treadmills are late entries from... Read More
"Carlton Austin has crafted a wonderful piece of work in... Read More
"Jason Seeley's War" is centered in the heart of a... Read More
Bebe Moore Campbell weaves a tale of unrelenting love and... Read More
Based on a mammoth research study conducted by the Gallup... Read More
Isn't That Bigamy (c) 2005, ISBN 1411634241, Mike Vogel, Lulu... Read More
Are you a parent that has all the financial responsibility... Read More
The Rich Jerk "Making Money on the internet is Easy"... Read More
It is hard to specify exactly what genre Larry Roth's... Read More
When the topic of family history comes up, where do... Read More
Author/Publisher Christmas in Dairyland by LeAnn R. Ralph Published by... Read More
"Fern's Dragon is a wonderfully fun read that stimulates the... Read More
In his book, "Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a... Read More
FISH! Tales: Real-Life Stories to Help You Transform Your Workplace... Read More
Author Joseph Yakel is leading a two-pronged charge to provide... Read More
Retired police captain, Marshall Frank, has written another excellent read... Read More
Tom Peters crafted a moving, educational animal adventure story in... Read More
Broken Angel, by SW Vaughn, breathes with an insistent life... Read More
Book Reviews |