false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256159850m/2538102.jpg 2538102 2 <p> In 2005 Kate Jackson ventured into the remote swamp forests of the northern Congo to collect reptiles and amphibians. Her camping equipment was rudimentary, her knowledge of Congolese customs even more so. She knew how to string a net and set a pitfall trap, but she never imagined the physical and cultural difficulties that awaited her. </p><p> Culled from the mud-spattered pages of her journals, <i>Mean and Lowly Things</i> reads like a fast-paced adventure story. It is Jackson&rsquo;s unvarnished account of her research on the front lines of the global biodiversity crisis—coping with interminable delays in obtaining permits, learning to outrun advancing army ants, subsisting on a diet of Spam and manioc, and ultimately falling in love with the strangely beautiful flooded forest. </p><p> The reptile fauna of the Republic of Congo was all but undescribed, and Jackson&rsquo;s mission was to carry out the most basic study of the amphibians and reptiles of the swamp forest: to create a simple list of the species that exist there—a crucial first step toward efforts to protect them. When the snakes evaded her carefully set traps, Jackson enlisted people from the villages to bring her specimens. She trained her guide to tag frogs and skinks and to fix them in formalin. As her expensive camera rusted and her Western soap melted, Jackson learned what it took to swim with the snakes—and that there&rsquo;s a right way and a wrong way to get a baby cobra out of a bottle. </p> 2545631 2007 Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo total:40|5:12|4:19|3:8|2:1|1:0| 40 162 77 18 2 0 false true Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 21 05:13:37 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 21 05:45:14 -0700 2008
Jackson describes some o...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 23 14:43:12 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 23 14:43:44 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jan 19 13:29:46 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 13:32:08 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Aug 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 14:14:15 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 14:22:52 -0700 2009 My background is in so...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jun 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 25 17:53:19 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 25 17:53:55 -0700 2009
If you have a hankering for a interesting memoir, this is the book for you. The topic is her experiences in the Congo collecting snakes, lizards, and toads. You will be gasping and reading sections of this book aloud to those around you.

I was pleasantly s...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 15 11:43:20 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 15 11:44:28 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Jul 09 19:09:07 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 09 19:16:54 -0700 2008
Being a biologist and science lover at heart, I thorougly enjoyed this book!...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun May 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 31 09:32:58 -0700 2009 Sun May 31 09:46:45 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 27 16:57:09 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 27 16:58:22 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Nov 18 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Apr 02 16:22:06 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 02 16:22:49 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Jan 31 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 05 13:23:24 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 11:05:22 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jun 18 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 17 21:19:15 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 18 10:28:29 -0700 2008
The writing was accessible, and I got a real feel for Jackson's prickly but vulnerable person as well as her intense love of he...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 20 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 17 19:06:59 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 20 16:02:01 -0800 2008
Any one, especially young women, who are interested in wildlife research shoul...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Sep 01 21:43:48 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 01 21:46:33 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri May 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 19 18:08:28 -0700 2008 Fri May 02 18:17:26 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Wed Jun 18 07:45:59 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 18 07:46:53 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Thu Jul 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 16 19:35:58 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 11 14:56:38 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Thu Jun 12 15:58:15 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 12 07:10:20 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 12 15:58:15 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sat Nov 14 16:33:24 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 14 16:33:32 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Nov 11 20:18:04 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 11 20:18:21 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2538102