Why Pandas Do Handstands... And Other Curious Truths About Animals - Hardcover

Brown-augustus

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0593056930 ISBN 13: 9780593056936

Publisher: Bantam Press, 2006

Synopsis

South American rats settle arguments by boxing. Tuna fish sunbathe and herring communicate with each other by breaking wind. Llamas hum to each other, elephants impersonate traffic sounds and whales sing ballads. Some kangaroos grow on trees. Strange new, scientifically-proven facts about the animal kingdom emerge seemingly every day. Here, gathered together in one book, are hundreds of the funniest, most fascinating and plain bizarre things we have discovered about the non-human world. All animal life is here: from the only dog that can develop gout to the wren whose song sounds just like Beethoven, from the cattle that generate electricity to the worm that has the power to brainwash. It is a book full of surprises. Who would have thought giraffes can't trot, reindeer 'fly' after taking magic mushrooms or that elk turn nasty when drunk? Who would have known that shark embryos attack, that caterpillars tap dance or that - out of our earshot - male mice are serenading their girlfriends with high-pitched love songs? And who on earth would have guessed that male pandas court potential partners by performing handstands?

About this title

About the Author

Augustus Brown's fascination with the strange side of animal life began on the Welsh farm where he grew up surrounded by cows that could sense rain, highly-combustible sheep and chickens that could easily be hypnotised. As a journalist and author, he has since written and contributed to numerous books, many on animal behaviour. In researching this book, he drew on scientific archives, books and studies, scores of zoological and biological websites and consulted leading experts in the animal science world. The most surprising thing he learned was that many animals frequently get drunk. The least surprising thing he learned was they get into trouble when they do so. Augustus Brown lives in London with his wife and two children, overlooking a park filled with creatures whose innocent appearance no longer fools him.

From Booklist

Many people are endlessly fascinated with animals--their methods of communication, mating rituals, how they build their homes and nurture (or not) their offspring. Augustus Brown panders to this near obsession in this delightful book, offering snippets of information such as "armadillos are the only animals other than humans who can suffer from leprosy," "snakes indulge in heavy petting," and "an elephant's trunk contains 40,000 muscles." He then goes one step beyond most books of this type, offering a comprehensive reference section for anyone wanting to check his facts or ferret out even more information on animal behavior. Brown entertains while he educates his audience on such subjects as animal intelligence, how animals live together in peace or wage war, which animals use tools, and what species eats their siblings. But readers beware if read in public, the title arouses so much curiosity they will be accosted by strangers asking, "Why do pandas stand on their hands?" The answer? "Read the book." Pamela Crossland
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Bantam Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0593056930
• ISBN 13: 9780593056936
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 416