Suburban Safari: A Year on the Lawn

by Hannah Holmes

Book Overview

The suburban lawn sprouts a crop of contradictory myths. To some, it's a green oasis; to others, it's eco-purgatory. Science writer Hannah Holmes spent a year appraising the lawn through the eyes of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582344795
• ISBN13: 9781582344799
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

great trivia

I really enjoyed the gentle and thoughtful tone of the author and the research regarding our animal neighbors was very interesting

I Thoroughly Enjoyed This FUN, Backyard Ecology Book!

Ms. Holmes conveys the spirit and joy of the true scientist in writing about her backyard biosphere. Carefully researched and referenced, this fascinating story is sure to inspire the reader to examine and appreciate their own surroundings. I would highly recommend this book for anyone even slightly interested in ecology, the environment or science. K. Reed

Don't be scared by the subject matter--this is a fast-paced and fun book!

Even though this book was so highly recommended, I had trouble picking it up. A year examining the backyard? What? As soon as I started the book, through, I was hooked on the intense social lives of Holmes's crows, the eating and gathering habits of her local chipmunk, her people-wary squirrel clan (many of whom lost parts of their tails), the oh-so-important bugs, and more. I'm not generally a reader of biology and nature books, so trust me when I say this book reaches across genres to the armchair reader. In fact, Holmes supports her thrilling narrative with citations from many biology books. I can only imagine how dry these texts are, and I thank her for giving us the "best parts" in narrative form. I learned about the navigational skills of robins and the extensive scientific studies conducted on the species, as well as the fact that hummingbirds have to learn to love the color red for its sugar, and many a baby hummingbird can be found picking at dry brown leaves and stems. Holmes also discusses experiments that were conducted to learn how squirrels know to eat white oak acorns (which germinate before winter) and save red oak acorns (which can be stored through winter without germination). Holmes manages to pack all this scientific information and more into a terrific narrative about a woman and her backyard. This book is highly recommended. I can think of nothing else that compares, and the story of Hannah and her backyard is anything but mundane.

Great writing, great science

This is a must-have for any household: a serious-minded, witty, often hilarious, gorgeously written account of the teeming natural world just outside the back door. The writing alone merits five stars. For her last book, Holmes was a finalist for an award that Stephen Hawking won, so she's no slouch in the science department, either.

Who Knew Sitting on a Lawn Could Mean Life in the Fast Lane?

Battling crickets. Tailless squirrels. Weeds as our friends. Crow antics. A Cheeky chipmunk. Drama, comedy, and huge life and death decisions compete for writer Hannah Holmes's attention out on her two tenths of an acre back lawn. This is a wonderful book in so many ways. Number one - it's beautifully written. Passionate, funny, informative, and engrossing, Holmes's prose has been honed as fine as one blade of feral grass on the Freedom Lawn she so treasures in her back yard. Number two - it's chock full of details regarding some of the common, yet extraordinary, things we see every day. The reader may laugh over the antics of Holmes's crows, but at the same time, she is teaching us about crow ecology - what they contribute to our environment and why they're important. She does this with each carefully considered topic - from why weeds are good to how many threads make up Babbette the spider's web in her study. Number three - A Year on the Lawn is an important educational and ecological tool that would be a great asset to high school science classes. Number four - things we idly wonder about while sipping iced tea in our own backyards are honored here in spades. This is a great read, no matter the season, whether you're on a summer-kissed deck or looking out at the piles of snow covering the backyard grill. Move it to the top of your pile.