The Snake Scientist (Scientists in the Field) - Softcover

Montgomery, Sy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0618111190 ISBN 13: 9780618111190

Publisher: Clarion Books, 2001

Synopsis

Dr. Robert Mason has been studying a mysterious phenomenon for over fifteen years: the reemergence of tens of thousands of red-sided garter snakes — the world’s largest concentration of snakes — after a winter spent in a state of suspended animation in subterranean caverns.

This gathering each spring in the forests of Manitoba, Canada, is one of the most extraordinary events of the natural world and is the subject of study for Dr. Mason, a.k.a. the Snake Scientist.

About this title

About the Author:

Nic Bishop, who holds a doctorate in the biological sciences, is the photographer of many acclaimed books for children. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand.Visit his website at: nicbishop.com  

From Scientific American:

The park guides at Narcisse Wildlife Management Area in Manitoba, Canada, will tell you to watch your step¾there might be a snake underfoot. With 18,000 red-sided garter snakes slithering around, they are likely to be right! Each spring, after eight months of hibernating underground, the snakes make their way to the surface and pour out of the earth. Some people might prefer to stay away from the site of the world's greatest concentration of snakes, but others, such as scientist Bob Mason, are drawn to it. There he "can see more snakes in a day than in the course of a three-year field study" anywhere else. Mason and his assistants have been studying these snakes for 15 years. Author Sy Montgomery, with the help of Nic Bishop's exceptional photos, enables the reader to join Mason and his team in the field and look over their shoulders as they work. (Montgomery also wrote "Eat Your Lawn!" on page 8 of this issue.) They gather pillowcases full of snakes, record the length, weight and temperature of each one, and perform experiments, such as sending snakes through mazes. Questions they are investigating include: Why are only adult snakes found in the dens? How do these snakes find mates? And how do they navigate the 20 miles between the marshes where they feed during the summer and their winter dens? The Snake Scientist is a must-read for any snake lover or budding naturalist. It may even make grown-ups want to grow up to be scientists.

Joan Silberlicht Epstein

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0618111190
• ISBN 13: 9780618111190
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 48