Books
Some of my favorite literary sources of information and inspiration.
Farcountry Field Guide
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
Kurt F. Johnson
The essential nature guide to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, written by a local wildlife biologist and eco-tour guide. More than 1.200 color photographs with concise descriptions reveal the richness of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. This is the definitive field identification guide to the region's rocks, minerals, geysers, waterfalls, mushrooms, trees. wildflowers, insects, amphibians, reptiles, fish, birds, mammals, tracks and scat, and the night sky. Includes 75 natural features with locator maps and 650 species. Don't leave home without this book on your dashboard or in your backpack. The one reference book to get started learning about all things natural in YNP and GTNP.
Mammal Tracks & Sign
A guide to N. American Species
Mark Elbroch
The most comprehensive reference guide to mammal tracks and sign for North America. This new edition is more visual, with more than 1300 photos and 450 illustrations for easy comparison and identification of similar sign. Each species account includes information on tracks and trails, scat and urine, nests and lodges, as well as sign on the ground, in trees and shrubs, on fungi and on plants. Winner of the 2019 National Outdoor Book Award for Outdoor Classic Books. You cant photograph wildlife if you cant find it!
Peterson Reference Guides
Behavior of N. American Mammals
Mark Elbroch & Kurt Rinehart
Oftentimes when we glimpse an animal in the wild, we have no idea what we've seen. We want to know, and field guides are an ideal aid for identification. But when we want to know more about the lives of these animals--their natural histories, their place in the larger ecological community, and where to look for them in the future--we can turn to Behavior of North American Mammals. This exciting addition to the Peterson Reference Guide series is highly readable and full of fascinating facts. For example, when an opossum plays dead, it isn't pretending: opossums actually do enter a catatonic deathlike state. Armadillos sequester air in their guts, blow up to twice their normal volume, and paddle across the water. And beavers stockpile food for winter by catching it in beneath a raft of branches, which gets frozen in place and keeps them well supplied until spring. A guide not to identifying mammals, but to understanding what they do, Behavior of North American Mammals provides detailed information on more than 70 species of mammals and includes illuminating and attractive photographs and drawings. Comprehensive, authoritative, and accessible, the book includes information on daily and seasonal activity, food and foraging, home range and habitat, communication, courtship and mating, development and dispersal of young, interactions with their own species, and interactions with other species.
Practical Tracking: A Guide to Following Footprints and Finding Animals
Mark Elbroch, Louis Liebenberg, Adriaan Louw
Techniques from international tracking experts applicable to any quarry and terrain - How to follow and find elk, deer, bears, cougars, lions, elephants, leopards, rhinos, and cape buffalo Finding and identifying tracks and sign of an animal's passing is only part of the ultimate goal for serious trackers, hunters, and outdoorspeople. They want to follow the trail to reach the animal in question. This detailed guide teaches them how. Written by a trio of master trackers, it covers what to look for to discern an animal's pathway, what information tracks and sign convey, how to move through the wilderness to get in sight of the quarry, how to avoid dangerous encounters, and more.
Bushcraft Box Set
Dave Canterbury
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Bushcraft 101: The primer to wilderness survival based on the author’s 5Cs of Survivability (cutting tools, covering, combustion devices, containers, and cordages)
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Advanced Bushcraft: Takes it to the next level with self-reliance skills that teach you how to survive with little to no equipment
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The Bushcraft Guide to Trapping, Gathering, and Cooking in the Wild: Provides everything you need to know about packing, finding, and preparing food while trekking
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Bushcraft First Aid: Written with Jason A. Hunt, PhD, it’s the go-to first aid resource for anyone headed into the woods
Naturalist Meditations set
H.D. Thoreau, John Muir, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman
Excellent short excerpts from some of the worlds most influential naturalists including other quotes from inspirational individuals past & present. Great for people with short attention spans such as myself.
Sibley Birds West: Field Guide to Birds of Western North America
COMPLETELY REVISED AND UPDATED: From renowned birder, illustrator, and New York Times best selling author David Sibley, the most authoritative guide to the birds of the West, in a portable format that is perfect for the field.
Compact and comprehensive, this guide features 715 bird species, plus regional populations, found west of the Rocky Mountains. Entries include stunningly accurate illustrations--more than 5,046 in total--with descriptive captions pointing out the most important field marks. Each entry has been updated to include the most current information concerning frequency, nesting, behavior, food and feeding, voice description, and key identification features. Here too are more than 652 updated maps drawn from information contributed by 110 regional experts across the continent, and showing winter, summer, year-round, migration, and rare ranges.