Because the Cat Purrs: How We Relate to Other Species and Why It Matters

by Janet Lembke

Book Overview

"A new book by Janet Lembke is always a cause for celebration."--Sue Hubbell We share our lives, for better or worse, with a multitude of animals, white-tailed deer and white-tailed eagles, hens and wrens, frogs and guppies, and, last but hardly least, bugs and bacteria. For the most part, we drift along separately, with neither man nor animal affecting the other's way of life. Sometimes, however, we fall in love--as in the case of the cat in the...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1602392358
• ISBN13: 9781602392359
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Naturalist illuminates some backyard mysteries

Naturalist Lembke's essays on the hidden lives of everyday creatures focus on our interaction with them, most often as pets, pests or sustenance. The brief title essay (also the source of the book's irresistible cover) discusses the evolution of the house cat from Egyptian times, when it was deified and mummified, to the untamability even today of certain feral cats and the much studied but still unsolved mystery of the purr. She explores the lives and the perpetual gardener's battle against groundhogs, deer and slugs (and no, she does not provide the long-sought solution), profiles animals that serve as pets or food, such as chickens and turtles, and recounts backyard dramas like the hunt of a resident hawk and the ice-laden crash of a red maple. Each encounter inspires rumination on the creatures' history, biology, folklore and daily existence. We learn about the disgusting and efficient glory of hermaphroditic slug sex, the life cycle of carpenter bees, and the cruelty of using have-a-heart traps on woodchucks for whom transportation to a territory not their own is a death sentence as certain as a bullet. Lembke also profiles the people who dedicate themselves to studying or caring for some of these creatures, like Suzanne, whose turtles have the run of the house and who scratch on the sliding glass door to go out. Or Sarah Hirsch who studies the sense of smell in mice and once made the mistake of getting attached to the cute little babies. An avid gardener, Lembke has a respectful, unsentimental view of animals, boundless curiosity in the world around her and a wry sense of humor. Her essays will appeal to anyone who's ever cursed a woodchuck or paused at the kitchen window to watch the drama going on outside, and been struck, even for a moment, by all the mysterious coexistence going on around us.

A deft and scholarly examination of humanity's relationship with its animal neighbors

Humanity is not the only resident of Earth; we share our homes with thousands of others on the planet. "Because the Cat Purrs: How We Relate to Other Species and Why It Matters" is a deft and scholarly examination of humanity's relationship with its animal neighbors. From man's best friend the dog, to the insects that assault us from every direction, to the rats that break into our homes and eat our food, "Because the Cat Purrs" gives an enlightening and eye opening look at the living world around us, and why we should better understand it. Enthusiastically recommended to community library collections.