Strange Partners - The Story of Co-operation Among Animals

By Sigmund A. Lavine

In the dense forests of India or Africa a small, noisy bird flies from tree to tree while a creature about the size and color of a skunk follows close behind. The bird is a honey guide and the animal hurrying to catch up is a ratel. The honey guide finally stops near a bees' nest and continues its noise until the ratel arrives and begins tearing the bees' nest apart. The two animals are partners-strange partners. The honey guide has great skill at finding honey, but its bill is not long enough or powerful enough to tear a bees' nest apart. Nor is its feathered skin tough enough to withstand bee stings. The ratel is not such a good hunter, but its long strong claws can easily rip nests apart, and it has a very tough skin. Many other animals have formed equally strange partnerships, always for a definite purpose-for food, for protection, for shelter, for aid in traveling about, and sometimes for life itself. This book tells about them. It also suggests the benefits man can derive from the lessons of wild animals working together in close, harmonious partnership.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0007DXGME
• Release Date: January 1959
• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.