Cat Among the Pigeons: A riotous assembly of unrespectable African creatures

by David Muirhead, Patricia de Villiers (Illustrator)

Overview

In an irreverent but loving treatise on the creatures of South Africa and beyond, David Muirhead features eccentric animal behaviors in his native home. Mixing folklore and legend with a heavy dose of science, Muirhead leaves no wart unexamined in these tales of unrespectable animals. A book for those delighted to discover what “pronking” means, or that for pythons, swallowing a porcupine whole is the easy part; it's afterwards when the anxiety really starts.

Cat Among the Pigeons allows us to laugh our way to a reconnection with the creatures we co-evolved with, highlighting their importance to our collective past and precarious futures. A reminder in our increasingly urban world that the strange and fantastical still roam, crawl, wiggle, swim and soar through the terrestrial and aquatic world, ready to delight and surprise us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781733547444
Publisher:	Catalyst Press
Publication date:	01/14/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

David Muirhead was born and raised in East Africa and his fascination and love for African wildlife began at an early age. He was educated at schools in Uganda, Kenya and the UK, and attended St Andrews University in Scotland, graduating with a degree in Philosophy. His career has spanned finance, trade development, economic research, publishing and journalism, and he has worked all over Africa, as well as in Europe and the Middle East. He is currently a freelance journalist and writes for magazines, notably Wildside, a South African ecotourism and nature conservation magazine which he founded in 1999 in partnership with KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation (now KZN Wildlife). He has authored several books, including The Curious Case of the Imaginary Tourist, a collection of satirical and humorous short stories which drew acclaim from the British press, and a novel, The Clamour King, published in London. Random House's Struik Nature imprint published his two anthologies of riotous, irrespectable essays on animals, which have been combined into one volume for North America. He now lives near Cape Town and is married with two children and two grandchildren. His daughter and her family live in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
Patricia de Villiers is an artist, illustrator and designer. She has been active as a cultural worker since the early 1970s contributing to various community organisations including the Community Arts Project in the 1980s.

Table of Contents

1. Intro 2. Orca 3. Springbok 4. Waterbuck 5. Firefly 6. Elephants 7. Bat-Eared Fox 8. Dragonfly 9. Banded Mongoose 10. Squirrel 11. Penguin 12.Wild dogs 13. Hadeda 14. Python 15. Vlei Rat 16. Cockroach 17. Spring Hare 18. Caracal 19. Cookoo 20. Vervet Monkeys 21. Rhino 22. Albatross 23. Lion 24. Marabou Stork 25. Golden Orb-web Spider 26. African Buffalo 27. Leopards 28. Lammergeier 29. Pangolin 30. Night Jar 31. Brown Hyena 32. Coelacanth 33. Gorilla 34. Gemsbok 35. Hedgehog 36. Wasps 37. Wildebeest 38. Gecko 39. Rain Frog 40.Aardvark 45. Honey Bee 46. Octopus 47. Dassie 48. Honey Badger 49. Hamerkop 50. Hippo 51. Klipspringer 52. Spotted Hyena 53. Secretary Bird 54. Otter 55. Praying Mantis 56. Warthog 57. Eland 58. Crow 59. Kingfisher 60. Dugong 61. Boomslang 62. Guinea Fowl 63. Barn Owl 64. Crocodiles 65. Mole Rats 66. Pelicans 67. Baboons 68. Porcupine 69. Egyptian goose 70. Zebra 71. Cheetah 72. Ground-hornbill 73. Dung beetle 74. Leatherback Turtle 75. Bats 76. Bushbabies 77. Chameleon 78. Seahorse. 79. Monitor Lizard 80. Giraffe 81. Flamingo 82. Black Jacketed Jackal 83. Ostrich 84. Seals

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"You may know some of these animals well; others you might not have heard of. But one thing's for certain: this clever, breezy book delivers delightful surprises on every page, along with a bracing dose of wonder." — Sy Montgomery, author of Tamed and Untamed: Close Encounters of the Animal Kind

Editorial Reviews

An inherently fascinating, impressively informative, and thoroughly entertaining read from first page to last” — Midwest Book Review

“No matter what page you turn to, you will be charmed, educated and entertained by the language and the lexicon of Mr. Muirhead.” —Pamela Kramer, book reviewer and animal advocate

From the Publisher