The White Puma

by R.D. Lawrence

As two riders make their way across the North American wilderness in search of a dangerous white puma, their prey relentlessly stalks them, determined to avenge the death of his family

Genres: Fiction, Animals

384 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1990

About the author

R.D. Lawrence was a Canadian naturalist and wildlife author. Born aboard ship in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Spain on September 12, 1921, he moved to Canada in 1954. RD Lawrence died of Alzheimer's on November 27, 2003 in Haliburton County, Ontario, Canada.

RD Lawrence's many books are published in 26 countries and 15 languages and take us to animal habitats far from humans; to the boreal forests of North America alive with puma, beaver, bear, timber wolves and eagles, to the frigid waters of the Pacific Northwest where orcas thrive, and to the sharks of the Red Sea.

Reviews

[C.A. Simonsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting tale about a puma family that is hunted by poachers. It would be easy to write a story about mountain lions as villains, but author R. D. Lawrence portrays his central characters as creatures like all others, simply trying to survive.

Lawrence clearly knew animals and their habits. The details about the pumas' habits are what make the book enjoyable. The plot becomes somewhat hokey and very Liberal as it goes on, but I turned the pages eagerly nonetheless.

There aren't enough nature stories for adult readers, in my opinion.

[Blondish And Bookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual book. Part old fashioned western and outdoor/adventure story but mostly animal story, the book was exceptional for an animal story (Author R.D. Lawrence was a well known naturalist and nature writer so this is no surprise) and reasonably good for the adventure story part. I very much enjoyed the scientific information on the pumas, and the storyline following the white puma (referred to as “the white tom”) seemed very realistic. There was a lot of detail about the mother of the puma and her life and her mate and the difficulties involved in hunting for and safely raising a litter of kittens in land that is invaded by humans. I've noticed in Lawrence's books that some reviewers don't like all the scientific detail—I LOVE that!! I love reading an involving story where at the end I feel that I know a lot more about some new subject. The story wound up in a pretty satisfying way (not always the case in nature stories).

A minor negative for this book would be that some of the main human characters were more like caricatures than fully developed characters. But since the point of them was to carry forward the animal story, it's not really important.

Since this book was published there have been multiple puma attacks (some fatal) in both British Columbia where this story is set, and in parts of the US (Colorado, California, New Mexico), which is notable in that the biologist and naturalist characters in Lawrence's book are going off of premises that are not entirely accurate--mountain lions WILL sometimes hunt, kill, and even eat people. An excellent study of this is The Beast in the Garden: The True Story of a Predator's Deadly Return to Suburban America

[Matthias · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun book. I have always enjoyed Lawrence's writing, and his firsthand account style makes it so much more engaging than similar, but third person, stories. This doesn't rank at the top of my list of Lawrence books because it was too much of a novel/fiction account. Something I have come to love about his books is the firsthand nature of the story (which this had) and his simple personal account, his thoughts and feelings at the time of each encounter (something I missed in this book). Despite this last point, I still love it for what it was and would recommend it to other nature and wildlife lovers out there.

[Bryce Kirkham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very run read with some beautiful descriptive writing on nature and the puma itself. I found the first half of the novel riveting, especially the passages from the puma family's perspective as Lawrence did a fantastic job on writing from an animals point of view and making you care about their plight and survival. The human characters were also a lot of fun, especially the two poachers and the conservationists who came into the story during the second half. Overall, this is a great book for nature lovers with a powerful message about conservation thrown in for good measure.

[Ram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never since "Tiger for Malgudi" have i read another gripping story from the wildlife. Magnificient.

[Katharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story about an unusual white puma who survives hunters and develops a friendship with a female environmentalist.......happy ending for all too.

[Donna Braly]

(I read the Reader's Digest version.)

[Patrick McMullin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great read of an amazing animal in the beautiful wilderness of northern British Columbia.

[LInda L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this story got more unlikely by the page, it is impossible not to like it. I found myself cheering for the pumas and hoping against hope that none would get killed -- even though the mother's death had already been predicted. it was inevitable that the white male kitten would survive (note title), but the fact that he grew to trust some humans and hate others -- well, it IS a novel. The many confrontations with bears in which he never got a scratch also seems improbable, but what do I know about pumas/bears/wolves/marmots/wolverines?? NOT MUCH. Well, I probably know more than I did before I read the book, but still !! The conservationists showed up just in time to save Cousins and Taggert -- again, somewhat improbable, but it was either that or more bloodshed.

[Priscilla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lawrence não era exatamente um romancista, mas um naturalista que resolveu usar a ficção para ajudar a preservar o Puma Branco.

Nessa obra, um puma se desenvolve como predador ao ser perseguido por dois caçadores. A trama é assim bem simples por não ser a própria literatura a sua intenção, ao contrário, o autor usa esse fiapo de narrativa para popularizar hábitos observacionais do animal.

A enorme quantidade de informações técnicas pode ser um pouco decepcionante para leitores atrás de aventura, mas é um chamariz para os que gostam desse tipo de ficção documentário.

O grande senão fica para a caterização dos caçadores que são pouco mais do que caricaturas nesse universo.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

It really is rare to find a quality naturalistic animal story that tries everything it can to NOT humanize the animal protagonist. This is one of those books, and it exceeded my expectations in telling the story of an albino puma from birth to beyond. It's a bit like an anti-"White Fang" in that regard, especially with the chapters involving the hunters.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome wildlife story, so awesome that I can't believe it was only published in 1990 and not 30 years earlier. Because it definitely fits right in with all those classics, and only improves by being noticeably longer.

[María · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read it so many times that the book actually got some loose sheets
=')

[Lyl Lyl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book captivated me, despite the redundancy of the word 'spoor'. That is literally its only flaw for me. The book struck a clear, strong note in me.