Birds of a Feather

Birds of a Feather by Lorin Linder
2018
Weight: 1 lb
Method of Disposal: Lending Library

A volunteer at the shelter left this in our lending library and, knowing very little about birds, I decided to take a peek.  I also was invested in the story of the soldiers that work with the birds (and later wolves as it turns out).  The book read very quickly and was enlightening.  My heart breaks every time I see someone with a bird in a cage in their house now, and I worry when I walk through the city and see a parrot on someone's shoulder.  I am ashamed to admit that I try to gauge if the owner could outlive the bird even if they never fell ill or had an accident.

It was interesting when the author wrote about the soldiers that had suffered PTSD for so long and had not opened up to anyone but would slowly open up to a bird.  She said that birds were not like dogs that would just give you love without question.  You had to work for it, and they would bond to certain people and not others.  That was comforting to some of the men.

Any who, it was interesting, and I learned some basic information about birds and the work the author did.  More importantly, I was able to read about another woman who just knew she could help and was going to help no matter how challenging it was to get to where she was today.  That is always inspiring. 

The Encyclopedia of Animals

The Encyclopedia of Animals  Harold G. Cogger
2002
Weight: 5.2 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating

I am getting rid of this book for the same reason I got rid of the Sharks and Whales one from earlier today.  This one is only slightly more difficult to let go because it has all sorts of animals in it, including adorable baby hedgehogs and platypuses.  Who ever gets to see a baby platypus in real life?!  There is a polar bear on the cover, which makes my heart swoon.  It is so difficult to handle when one comes to the realization that polar bears may become extinct in our lifetime due to global warming.  They are such beautiful, big, strong bears.

It is really amazing to think about how many different types of life there are on the planet and, no matter how many times I look through books like this over the years, there is always one I have never heard of, seen, or imagined.  I hope someone who truly loves animals and the Earth finds this book super cheap and loves it as I have or more.