Terres, who was editor-in-chief at Audubon, spent a decade wandering the Mason Farm Biological Reserve in Chapel Hill, NC.  The former farm was donated to the University of North Carolina to allow students to observe the wildlife there. Terres, likewise, set out to chronicle the life he found there, hiding in blinds, perching in tree stands, etc.. & he offers a wonderful account of his observations.

He describes each of the seasons & then gives detailed descriptions of the lives and habits of some of the farms residents: flying squirrels, turkey vultures, wild turkeys, cottontail rabbits, and the like.  He came to know some of these creatures individually, including a heroic black turkey and his own pet flying squirrel.  He endows them with personality and character and, like him, we start rooting for them in their struggles to survive.

(Reviewed:)

Grade: (B+) Orrin C. Judd

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