Devil S Midnight

Gods and Devils of Mankind

Devils River Country

Del Rio. Val Verde. By the river. The Green Valley. The great grand parents and their kin came. By horse . . . wagon . . . stage coach . . . foot back. They settled the village. Helped name it Del Rio. Assisted in forming Val Verde County. Grandparents told stories: of their coming to live in the wonderful country where Devils River, the Pecos, and the Rio Grande meet . . . of early times in the boundary area where the Chihuahuan Desert from the west meets hills of the Edwards Plateau to the north and merges with Tamaulipas brush land from the south and the east. Times change. Winter-time tale-tellings before the fireplace on grand-dad’s knee . . . warm-weather story-sharings on the back porch in grand-ma’s lap . . . wisps of Prince Albert pipe smoke . . .twinkings of twilight fire-flies . . . all eroded away by movies, television, and cell phones. But there are still stories to tell. Tales to pass on. Things we want children – grandchildren – those still to come – to remember – in times yet to be. This book is a gathering of happenings – remembrances of events – glimpses of parenting – thoughts of yesteryear. It tells of: Horses and windmills and tarantulas . . . a wrong-way bus trip . . . a hidden wedding ring . . . sycamore trees . . . a lost bath and football shack showers . . . lions and toads and tin soldiers . . . a picket fence . . . old telephones . . . poison pig weed . . . a crusty old red rooster . . . building boats and reviving old cars . . . holiday traditions . . . hunting experiences . . . sailing fiascos . . . and more.

Camouflage

Uncover nature’s best-hidden creatures in a major new book on animal camouflage. Camouflage is essential to surviving in the wild. Both a built-in defence mechanism and a cunning tactic for attack, this biological advantage helps animals hide from dangerous predators and catch unsuspecting prey. It is used in many different ways, primarily to mask one’s identity, movement or location, and changes over time as animals evolve and adapt to live. This stunning photographic collection reveals 100 camouflaged creatures from around the world paired with fascinating insights from leading UK zoology author Steve Parker. Each elusive animal will have a profile of 300 words paired with striking photographic examples featuring a wealth of colour and ingenious camouflages. Examples include: THE GIRAFFE is the world’s tallest mammal yet it remains tricky to detect among trees thanks to its spots. The spots also help to regulate their temperature. THE OCTOPUS can change its opacity, colour and pattern in response to threats. THE WALKING LEAF INSECT has evolved a strikingly similar shape and colour to the leaves it eats. THE ARCTIC FOX changes its fur colour to white in the winter, perfectly blending in with the snow – but climate change is disrupting this age-old adaptation. THE TURTLE uses colour and pattern to camouflage on sand, rocks and the ocean floor to escape its predators.