Catskill Creatures - Softcover

Furstinger, Nancy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0967554160 ISBN 13: 9780967554167

Publisher: Golden Notebook Press, 2024

Synopsis

Are you curious about the amazing Catskill creatures sharing your back yard? Your wild neighbors star in nature's outdoor theater, where exciting drama changes with the seasons. "Catskill Creatures" spotlights fifteen species of wildlife with intriguing facts and dramatic illustrations. Inside these pages you will discover:

Who isn't scared of the skunks stinky spray

What warty secret weapon protects toads

Where prime raccoon real estate is located

When black bears head into their winter dens

Why the little brown bat is nature's original bug zapper

Get familiar with the fascinating creatures that crawl, walk, run, swim, slither, hop and fly through your backyard. Then make your neighborhood wildlife friendly by following suggestions in the "How You Can Help section.

The Golden Notebook Bookstore has been Woodstock New York's fiercely independent bookstore for close to fifty years. We launched the Golden Notebook Press in 2023 as a way to publish books and authors we believe in and that we know can sell to wide audience as our store reaches not only our artistic community, but thousands of annual tourists from around the world. We hope to keep books in print that are vital to the artistic and literary needs of our diverse customer base, find new exciting subjects and voices, and promote the Catskills and Hudson Valley region we are so proud to call our home.

About this title

About the Authors

Nancy Furstinger is the author of nearly 100 books, including many on her favorite topic: animals! She started her writing career in third grade, when her class performed a play she wrote while recovering from chicken pox. Since then, Many has been a feature writer for a daily newspaper, a managing editor of trade and consumer magazines, and an editor at two children's book publishing houses. She shares her home and heart with big dogs, house rabbits, and a chinchilla (all rescued), and volunteer and fosters pets for several animal organizations. Nancy has been speaking ups for animals since she learned to talk and she hasn't shut up yet! Please adopt, don't shop.

Bob Ebdon is an award-winning colored pencil artist and musician who lives in Lincoln, England, with his wife, Gilian. 

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Big and Little Brown Bat

Millions of years ago, bats soared among the dinosaurs. Today's bats keep the same schedule, swooping out at dusk and disappearing at dawn.

Bats are the only flying mammals. Wings of elastic skin spread out from the sides of their furry bodies. Bats can fly in total darkness by using echolocation. They bounce sounds off of nearby objects. Then they judge distances by the time required for the echo to return. The big brown bat zooms through the Catskills at speeds up to forty miles per hour. His smaller relative, the little brown bat, flies between twenty to thirty mph.

Bats have huge appetites. On the menu are night-flying insects such as beetles, moths and mosquitoes. One little brown bat can gobble 1,200 insects in just an hour! Bats are nature's original bug zapper. They reduce the need for harmful pesticides.

Baby bats are born tail first. They are blind and naked. The mother bat gives birth to usually just one baby bat, called a pup, each year. She gives birth upside down, hanging by her feet and thumbs.

Big and little brown bats live in tree hollows and buildings. Each winter they hibernate for up to seven months. These bats can decrease their heart rate to between ten to twenty beats per minute.

Bats gained a bad rap as evil creatures because of their appearance. However, these night-flying goblins will not suck your blood or get tangled in your hair. Never handle bats and you'll have nothing to fear.

Edition details

• Publisher: Golden Notebook Press
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0967554160
• ISBN 13: 9780967554167
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Ebdon Bob
• Number of pages: 40