Kansas WildlifeText by Joseph T. CollinsPhotographs by Bob Gress, Gerald J. Wiens, Suzanne L. Collins, and Joseph T. CollinsForeword by John E. Hayes, Jr.128 pages, 130 full-color photographs, 8-1/2 x 11
In Kansas Wildlife four of the state's best wildlife photographers combine 130 photographs to create a colorful sampler of the state's biodiversity--from delicate Cricket Frogs to ponderous Bison, from stately Great Blue Herons to madcap Chickadees, from cautious Ornate Box Turtles to high-strung Prairie Rattlesnakes. Naturalist Joe Collins provides detailed figure captions full of little-known information about the habits and habitats of Kansas creatures. Did you know, for example, that the Eastern Yellowbelly Racer, a fast and aggressive snake, sometimes follows people who enter its territory during the spring courting season? Have you heard the high-pitched howl of the Northern Grasshopper Mouse, a predatory mouse that occasionally stands on its hind feet and howls like a miniature wolf? Did you know that hummingbirds, the only birds that can fly backwards, must refuel every ten to fifteen minutes? Did you realize, in your wildest dreams, that there are often 750 Prairie Ringneck Snakes to the acre? "Look for these animals the next time you stroll the natural places of Kansas," Collins writes. "I think the variety will surprise you as much as it surprised me on my first Kansas snake hunt twenty years ago, and still does today."
BOB GRESS, GERALD WIENS, and SUZANNE COLLINS are Kansas wildlife photographers whose work has appeared in regional and national magazines such as National Wildlife, Kansas Wildlife, Sports Afield, and Natural History. Editor JOSEPH T. COLLINS, also a widely published photographer, is author or coauthor of numerous books, including An Illustrated Guide to Endangered or Threatened Species in Kansas, Kansas Wetlands: A Wildlife Treasury, Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas, Natural Kansas, and the Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. Publication of Kansas Wildlife has been made possible in part by a grant from KPL Gas Service. Home | About the Press | Recent Awards | Contact Us | Order
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The variety will surprise you.
Because of its central location, Kansas is a meeting ground for
North American animals. Six hundred ten species of land animals--birds,
mammals, reptiles, and amphibians--live in or pass through Kansas.
Boreal animals from the colder northern climes traverse the state
on their way south; western creatures migrate east from the Rockies
or reside in our arid grasslands; southern wildlife pushes north
into Kansas on its way back from winter quarters or settles permanently
in our Red Hills; and eastern species invade our deciduous forests.