The Book of Deadly Animals: Savage Encounters Between Man and Beast

This book was first published in 2010, has 351 pages, 22 chapters, 80 B/W photos but no maps. The book is dedicated to author's family. GORDON GRICE was 6 years old when a cougar treed infront of their farmhouse. He started collecting specimens and wrote notebooks full of his observations and drawings of wildlife. He could sense that he was being watched by a predator or he was in some danger.In USA, there are 4.7 million dog bites a year, out of which 800,000 seek medical help and about 12 die. In UK, 5 thousand post persons are attacked in 1 year, by the dogs. Most serious attacks involve little children and older people. Bending over, is a sign of weakness or submission, to an animal. The eyes and direct gaze, provoke an attack. Unsteady walk in the elderly and quavering voice, draw a challenge. The worse disease the dog/wolf family can pass to man is - RABIES.The black bear may peel its victim like a banana, including humans. On land, a brown bear makes a formidable predator. Polar bear can weigh upto 1 ton and stand 12ft tall. The cats predatory behaviour is consistent across their sizes. Lions lie in ambush in low bushes. Grazing elephants cleared these bushes. Killing the elephants, lead to lion attacks. Captive lions are just as dangerous as tigers. Leopard is known to strike humans in the dark and take sleeping people from their homes. The cougar also takes humans in the Americas. Captive or pet cats can also attack humans. Hyenas attack humans when they are asleep. The Maasai are quite aware of this persistent hyena, who likes to break through the Boma.Sharks, stingrays and jelly fish kill people. An under-reported 40,000 people die of snake bites annually worldwide. The cobra kills 20,000 people in India every year. The King Cobra can reach 20ft in length and it only eats other snakes. All 4 kinds of Mamba snakes are aggressive and dangerous. The most potent venom is discovered in a 'Inland Taipan' (fierce snake) in Australia. Out of 122 kinds of viper snakes, the Russell's viper is the most frequent human killer. In Africa, the Puff Adder viper kills more frequently. In North America, the western diamond back rattle snake kills more humans. The constrictor pythons kill people usually in the western homes.The crocodile injures its victims by biting, shaking, rolling and crushing. Despite warnings, people still enter rivers and lakes in the wilds, where they depend on water for food, drink and livelihood. The Komodo dragon, many spiders and scorpions, can kill humans in the wilds.Deer can cause injuries and death with their antlers. Car collision with deer causes many deaths on USA roads. Most dangerous of all buffaloes, is the cape or water buffalo of Africa. Horned animals like the Sable, black and white rhino, can give severe injuries and kill humans. More people die of hippo charges than any other animal in Africa. Elephants have killed humans by tusking, trampling, kicking, crushing and tossing. Monkeys with sharp teeth can inflict serious injuries. Baboons are known to kill children.This book contains many short stories about animal attacks on humans. It shows that, no matter how much we may love wild animals, they are not our friends.Some other books of interest are:-(1) Man-eater of Kumaon, Jim Corbett, 1944(2) Dangerous to Man, Caras, 1964(3) Man is Prey, Clarke, 1969(4) Maneaters, Capstick, 1981(5) Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls, Leslie, 1987(6) Spell of the Tiger, Montgomery, 1995(7) Spineless Wonders, Conniff, 1996(8) Hunter and Hunted, Kruuk, 2002(9) Mammoth Book of Maneaters, MacCormick, 2003(10)Killer Animals, Ricciuti, 2003(11)Man the Hunted, Sussman, 2005Having born in Kenya, I enjoyed reading this book.

OK

Bought based on a review in one of the broadsheets for my 11yr old son at christmas, who can be reluctant to read. He loved it the stories are all factual but varied and dare I say some are grim but fascinating. The family have all read various parts of it. It is one of those books that conveys facts ao well, and makes for great discussions about animals, the world and humans and you may not actually be aware of how much you have taken on board until you are re-telling the stories. This is a book I would happily recommend to older children and adults. Younger children might need some of the stories read to them and parents can decide on the suitability. A real winner with our family. What a gem indeed. I wish there were more book like this out there.

If you love books about animals at their most deadly wrapped up in easy to read chapters then this book may well be the one for you. Its full of trivia, interesting facts and stories of survival. That said, personally I felt that it needed more illustrations or, failing that, would have perhaps been better as a TV series where you can follow everything from start to finish.Don't get me wrong, it is a good read, it is well written and the author knows their stuff as well as facts. Add this to a personable approachable writing style and its something that a lot of people will enjoy but without the visual it feels a little flat.

Gordon Grice is a good naturalist and a great story-teller, so I was thrilled to come across a review copy of his fascinating new book cut-price in the Charing Cross Road. I hadn't seen a notice or heard a peep about it in the British press but snapped it up in a trice. You should too. Anyone who liked his previous book, The Red Hour-Glass: lives of the predators, will adore this one which extends his ghoulish precision and visceral sense of horror to the whole of the animal kingdom. When I was at school I read books like Man is the Prey, but gruesome Grice is ten times better. He is not only a really fine writer of prose but has an interesting thesis too: as we humans impinge on the animal kingdom more and more, the critters are getting more vicious in self-defence. Well, wouldn't you too?

Grice has a wealth of personal knowledge when it comes to deadly and dangerous animals, and this is portrayed through his confident and informative writing which allows us to learn perhaps a new side to some familiar and not so familiar creatures. The passion for these animals is clear throughout the book, and rather than feel fear after completing it, i rather feel much more able to deal with any situations i may find myself in! I really enjoyed the chapter on bears, being a personal favourite of mine, and was very surprised to learn the sloth is the most likely to attack humans! Written with easy to read chapters, this is one not to put down, and would be great for younger readers too.Bring on the warmer weather and some exciting expeditions into the wild to find these creatures!!