Rick Shine

People have always been fascinated by snakes, but only during the last few decades have researchers begun to reveal the secret lives of these most mysterious of animals. Rick Shine is one of the most eminent of those scientists, and his book describes the adventures and misadventures of researchers who have investigated the ecology and biology of these fantastic beasts – and sometimes, have paid with their lives. This richly-illustrated title chronicles the revolution in our understanding of snakes, the new methods that have arisen to enable those breakthroughs, and the serendipitous and often-chaotic processes by which human beings accumulate insights into other forms of life. Recent years have witnessed an incredible flowering of snake-ecology research, with a rapidly expanding diversity not only of the snake species being studied and the places where this occurs, but also of the kinds of people making those discoveries. Snakes are peculiar animals, and they attract peculiar people. This book captures the thrills and perils of a worldwide scientific leap forward, from fear and ignorance of snakes towards respect and understanding. This professional biologist’s ramble through the history of people’s attempt to understand the private lives of snakes – with lots of stories about the eccentric pioneers – will appeal to anyone with an interest in snakes and natural history.

“My name is Rick, and I’m a snake-a-holic.” This book is a collection of amazing stories from one of the world’s leading herpetologists, Rick Shine, who has spent 50 years conducting research on snakes of many different kinds, in many different places around the world, from his home in Australia, through Asia and Europe, to North America and beyond. There’s something special about snakes; they are scarce and secretive and a bite may land you in the cemetery. Something unearthly and mysterious about a creature than can glide across the ground with no obvious means of propulsion. That never blinks its eyes. That can capture, kill and swallow prey items larger than itself. That can dispense death with a few drops of venom. That can slough away its tattered old skin to emerge resplendent and iridescent. A creature that appears magically in front of you when you least expect it, triggering a unique alarm pathway in your brain. The book offers an entertaining and thought-provoking journey through the remarkable diversity of snake lifestyles around the world. It is written from a personal perspective, although the main players are snakes, and with minor roles for a motley assortment of colleagues and students who accompanied the author on his travels. It is packed with first-hand accounts of the excitements of fieldwork in remote areas with dangerous animals and is intended to be accessible to anybody with an interest in the subject.

Snakes are creatures of mystery, arousing fear in many people but fascination in a few. Recent research has transformed our understanding of the behaviour and ecology of these animals, revealed their important roles in diverse ecosystems, and discovered new and effective ways to conserve their populations and to promote coexistence between snakes and people. One of the leading contributors to that scientific revolution has been Prof Rick Shine. Based in Australia, whose snake fauna is diverse and often dangerous, his experiences and anecdotes will inspire a new generation of serpent scientists. Spellbinding stories highlight the challenges, frustrations, and joys of discovery, and give the reader a greater appreciation of these often-slandered slithering reptiles.Key Features Documents the important role played by a preeminent herpetologist.Focuses on research conducted in Australia, especially on snakes.Summarizes highly influential conservation studies.Explores the ways in which research has deepened our understanding of snakes.

Snakes are creatures of mystery, arousing fear in many people but fascination in a few. Recent research has transformed our understanding of the behaviour and ecology of these animals, revealed their important roles in diverse ecosystems, and discovered new and effective ways to conserve their populations and to promote coexistence between snakes and people. One of the leading contributors to that scientific revolution has been Prof Rick Shine. Based in Australia, whose snake fauna is diverse and often dangerous, his experiences and anecdotes will inspire a new generation of serpent scientists. Spellbinding stories highlight the challenges, frustrations, and joys of discovery, and give the reader a greater appreciation of these often-slandered slithering reptiles.Key Features Documents the important role played by a preeminent herpetologist.Focuses on research conducted in Australia, especially on snakes.Summarizes highly influential conservation studies.Explores the ways in which research has deepened our understanding of snakes.

The captivating and beautifully illustrated true story of snakes in America.125 million years ago on the floodplains of North America, a burrowing lizard started down the long evolutionary path of shedding its limbs. The 60-plus species of snakes found in Sean P. Graham's American Snakes have this ancestral journey to thank for their ubiquity, diversity, and beauty. Although many people fear them, snakes are as much a part of America's rich natural heritage as redwoods, bald eagles, and grizzly bears. Found from the vast Okefenokee Swamp to high alpine meadows, from hardwood canopies to the burning bottom of the Grand Canyon, these ultimate vertebrates are ecologically pivotal predators and quintessential survivors.In this revelatory and engaging meditation on American snakes, Graham, a respected herpetologist and gifted writer, • explains the everyday lives of American snakes, from their daily routines and seasonal cycles to their love lives, hunting tactics, and defensive repertoires• debunks harmful myths about snakes and explores their relationship with humans• highlights the contribution of snakes to the American wilderness• tells tales of "snake people"—important snake biologists with inspiring careersNeither a typical field guide nor an exhaustive reference, American Snakes is instead a fascinating study of the suborder Serpentes. Brimming with intriguing and unusual stories—of hognose snakes that roll over and play dead, blindsnakes with tiny vestigial lungs, rainbow-hued dipsadines, and wave-surfing sea-snakes—the text is interspersed with scores of gorgeous full-color images of snakes, from the scary to the sublime. This proud celebration of a diverse American wildlife group will make every reader, no matter how skeptical, into a genuine snake lover.

In 1935, an Australian government agency imported 101 specimens of the Central and South American Cane Toad in an attempt to manage insects that were decimating sugar-cane harvests. In Australia the Cane Toad adapted and evolved with abandon, voraciously consuming native wildlife and killing predators with its lethal skin toxin. Today, hundreds of millions of Cane Toads have spread across the northern part of Australia and continue to move westward. The humble Cane Toad has become a national villain. Cane Toad Wars chronicles the work of intrepid scientist Rick Shine, who has been documenting the toad’s ecological impact in Australia and seeking to buffer it. Despite predictions of devastation in the wake of advancing toad hordes, the author’s research reveals a more complex and nuanced story. A firsthand account of a perplexing ecological problem and an important exploration of how we measure evolutionary change and ecological resilience, this book makes an effective case for the value of long-term natural history research in informing conservation practice.