I got this book on a visit to my parents' house in Southern California. It was in their ever-growing and ever-changing "done reading & up for grabs" book pile.
Inside the book was a little paper that my dad wrote. It said "I read these chapters... Frenetic, Fast, Energetic." That certainly set the tone for the book for me. I'm an animal lover - so was very interested in reading this book about "uncommon encounters in the wild."
What I learned from this book - Craig Childs is a bit of a lunatic. Some of his encounters were quite sweet. Some of them were quite stupid. He sure takes chances in his life - walking barefoot through the Mexican desert during the summer and dodging rattle snakes. Trying to rescue a trapped raccoon from a watering hole. To traipsing through mountain-lion territory, walking through bear territory, and voluntarily living in a Tipi for an extended period of time. Definitely not things I would choose to do.
Childs writes:
This book is a collection of my own encounters, staring at animals for as long as they would stay. The experiences are translated, now made out of words, like trying to build the sky out of sticks. Verbs and nouns do not always change to the weather as they should. They may not dry out and crack on hot days. Even my eyes have betrayed me as I have watched a tiger shark, losing its shape and its direction, and my ears have been misled as I have listened for a mountain lion in a canyon.During his time in his Tipi, Childs was tormented by an infestation of mice. He somewhat reluctantly decided to get a cat, as "tipis, by design, are no good at keeping mice out."
The life of an animal lies outside of conjecture. It is far beyond the scientific papers and the campfire stories. It is as true as breath. It is as important as the words of children.
I loved my cat [named Sazi], of course. I was able to unload heaps of unconditional affection onto him, petting and scratching, kneeding his worthless hide with all the fondness and frustration I could muster...When I came home late I would see his head, peering through a hole he had carved in the snowdrift that leaned on the door. We were companions of some sort. We stalked deer together in the summer. I would be down on my stomach, crawling along, and he stayed with me, dropping back so as not to startle them. But the mice, Sazi. Eat the mice.Childs has encounters with all kinds of animals, from mice to cats, bears to rattle snakes, goats, all manner of birds, porcupines, fish, and even mosquitoes. Some encounters are more dangerous than others. It isn't as if he sought out to stalk a jaguar - he somewhat happens upon these encounters.
Childs was walking in early-winter in southeast Utah and saw a raven fly overhead. Childs started following the raven into an "empty bay of cliffs half a mile away." Childs tells the reader:
Ravens are mobbers. They frequently gang up on invaders, generally the likes of hawks, eagles, or owls, pecking the back of the head, getting in their faces and screaming. They even attack one another if a particular raven, or a minority of ravens, gets out of line. They are skilled at delivering torment, combining sound, motion, and direct attack with open talons from all angles to drive out or at least befuddle a trespasser...Sometimes it takes Childs slightly more than a hint from the animal to take his leave. But, being a naturalist, his goal is to observe animals for as long as possible, and then continue on his way.
I felt something the size and weight of a pebble hit my back. I looked behind me. Another raven flew in, and with a quick motion, transferring a pebble from its talon to its beak, it let a small projectile fly into the air. The pebble barely missed me, leaving a dimple in the sand near my knee.
A mountain lion is at the water hole... It does not know that I am here. I come on it from behind, staring a beeline down its long tail, which is laid flat against the ground... The lion walks away, into a mesh of junipers that leads into the ponderosa forests and the high desert beyond. The wind shifts a few times, distributing my scent all over. I wait for several minutes, then walk to the water to get a good identification on fresh mountain lion tracks, to take measurements, and write it all down... If I know the mountain lion, it is half a mile away by now, getting well out of my range. I don't see it anywhere. I scan the perimeter with a rigid movement like a cautious deer coming to drink. At first I see nothing. Then it is there, behind me. It has circled to my back. Eyes are in the shadows of a couple of low junipers, thirty feet away... Instead of running, it stands. Without a pause for thought, it moves out from under the shadows so that both of us are in the same sunlight... It begins walking straight toward me.Childs makes it out of this encounter unscathed and not eaten by the mountain lion. Reading all of the encounters that Childs has similar to this, I wonder - what is this guy thinking? Why would be put himself in the path of animals that could easily and readily kill him. But then I think, it must be majestic to be so close to these wonderful and beautiful animals, and I can understand the draw (ok, only slightly understand the draw).
I don't seek encounters like Childs does, but I have had my fair share of them in the course of life. I was pleasantly reminded of many of them while I was reading this book.
One of my favorite (and most positive) encounters was on a solo trip to Maui some years ago. I was laying on the beach at the hotel, and I overheard another guest saying she had spotted a bunch of turtles while she was out snorkeling. Sea turtles are my favorites! I just love them. So, I decided to go take a look. I snorkeled out a ways and didn't see anything. I came upon a very large coral outcropping and because I have an innate fear of swimming over coral when there is not much water above it (deriving from a scary childhood experience swimming over coral at Hanauma Bay on O'ahu) to get around it, I would have had to swim a lot farther. I wasn't worried about swimming out farther, but since I was alone, if something happened and I didn't come back, no one would know. So, I decided to embrace one of my mottoes "safety first" and turn around and head back to shore. Right when I did that, I looked down and saw a lone sea turtle about 25-feet below me. I was so excited! I dove down to get closer and saw it eating some sea grass. I followed it for quite a while. It surfaced a few times, and I was close enough to see its little turtle teeth, and hear it inhale a breath of air. It was so serene, and I was so happy to be in the presence of this beautiful turtle. We swam together for probably 45 minutes. Before I knew it, we were back at shore in ankle-deep water. It looked at me, then turned and swam back out to sea. I personally think the turtle was my ocean escort, taking me back to shore. It was an amazing experience.
My dad even shared one of his animal encounters (written on the inside cover of the book). If you can't decipher his writing, here is what it says:
Zion National Park - 9/1/12. We beat the yellow jackets at their own game - dinner on the terrace. The bait: a bowl of honey, 3 cherry tomatoes, 1 packet of sprinkled sugar granules & voila! (I can't make out the rest)
I think that Childs' book is a nice reminder to keep our eyes open and take in the experiences around us. I'm not sure that all of us "normal" people will have the kinds of experiences that Childs does, but we all have experiences with animals of some sort in our surroundings. Take a look out your window - do you see any birds? What do they do? Look down - see any ants, spiders, caterpillars? The world around is is awe inspiring - but we won't see it if we aren't looking.
This book is a collection of short stories. It is the type of book that you can pick up and put down and then pick up again when the mood strikes. Childs has certainly had some crazy adventures. He has inspired me to share some of my own animal encounters. I will write about them here periodically.
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