Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #474692 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Synopsis
A comprehensive guide to animal tracking covers rodents, rabbits, weasels, racoons, foxes, coyotes, deer, sheep, elk, moose, and bears.

From the Author
Submitted by Paul Rezendes
As the author, I was very pleased to get two star reviews for The Wild Within. One from Booklist and one from Publisher's Weekly. I'd like to share them with you. They are as follows:

Booklist:

Rezendes, author of Tracking and the Art of Seeing (1992), acquired his vast knowledge of the wildlife of New England not in academia but in the woods themselves. The story of why and how he attained his expertise begins with Rezendes leading a group of novice trackers across precariously icy terrain on the trail of a bobcat. As he describes their adventure, he explains that he doesn't track animals to hunt them but rather to enter into their world, to achieve a heightened awareness of his surroundings, and to tap into a state of being beyond thought that he calls "the wild within." Writing as precisely and patiently as he tracks, Rezendes uses personal experiences as teaching stories just as Buddhist writers do, sharing incidents from his radical past as a motorcycle gang leader, ashram founder, yoga teacher, and wildlife photographer to illustrate parallels between our behavior and that of animals. Tracking is a form of meditation for Rezendes, and his unique narrative is rich in spiritual insights as unfettered and full of grace as the animals he loves.

Publisher's Weekly:

Rezendes (Tracking and the Art of Seeing) takes readers on a hauntingly beautiful journey into the woods of the American Northeast. Drawing on his treks taken alone, with experienced nature adventurers and with neophyte students, he depicts a variety of human encounters with bears, loons, deer, bobcats, coyotes, fox and moose, and ultimately, with the nature of the universe, life, humanity and self. He also brings an uncommon wisdom and depth of insight to his chronicle, explicating the Zen principles of patience, compassion, silence and stillness; of the web of all that exists; and of awareness of the present moment. The author's unusual background (he was at various times a leader of two motorcycle gangs, devout Catholic and a spiritual ascetic, teaching hatha yoga and founding a Jainist ashram) gives him a fresh, unexpected viewpoint. Rezendes offers a glimpse into the "wild within" through quietly "stalking" wild animals -- not to kell them, but to observe and learn from them. The meaning of love is illustrated by a pair of loons, spiritual connection by a moose, and "true intelligence" by a coyote; their lessons, as interpreted by the author, are profound and unforgettable. Includes striking nature photographs by Rezendes.

Customer Reviews

Best tracking book
Detailed accounts of wildlife encounters. Personal stories put you in the shoes of the tracker. Great pictures and examples of animals and their tracks. Easy to read, loaded with information. A must have for field work.