8/8/2015 How a famous biologist spent his career saving ‘the tequila bat’ and rectifying the image drawn in Bram Stoker’s classic story. By Vicki Croke On the nights that the teenage Rodrigo Medellin didn’t have enough cow’s blood stored in the freezer’s ice-cube trays to feed the 10 pet vampire bats he kept in the … Continue reading Take The Bat Man, Dracula, And Tequila. Mix Well.
natural history
Treetop Kangaroos? Who Knew?
9/4/2015 After 18 years of patient study, of course Lisa Dabek knew, but she never really saw exactly what they were up to ...until now. By Vicki Croke For 18 years, the very patient and determined field biologist Lisa Dabek has been traveling to Papua New Guinea to study the mysterious Matschie’s tree kangaroo. These … Continue reading Treetop Kangaroos? Who Knew?
Finding Friendship In The City Of Hyenas
12/30/2015 In a place that welcomes hyenas after dark, an anthropologist ends up bonding with one of the fiercest predators on earth. By Vicki Croke Hyenas aren’t the most popular animals. In Western literature, they are depicted as giggling, cowardly, and dangerous. In almost all of Africa, where the formidable predators are known to bite … Continue reading Finding Friendship In The City Of Hyenas
Book review — Winged Victories
The New York Times Book Review Winged Victories: 'The Thing With Feathers' and 'The Homing Instinct' By Vicki Constantine Croke Avian migration is such a vast and complex phenomenon that it can accommodate star treatment in two new books. “The Thing With Feathers,” by Noah Strycker, takes on the miracle of navigation as part of … Continue reading Book review — Winged Victories