Carnivorous Nights_ On the Trail of the Tasmanian Tiger - Margaret Mittelbach [0]
“A top-drawer journey into the natural history of Tasmania from two Brooklyn-based nature writers … neatly and wonderfully sews together natural science and travel yarn.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“The quixotic quest at the heart of Carnivorous Nights is more than just endearing and engrossing, it's inspiring.”
—Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
“Beautifully observed, excitingly reported, [and] laugh-out-loud funny … This book will surely become a classic of wildlife adventure and travel writing.”
—Marie Winn, author of Red-Tails in Love: A Wildlife Drama in Central Park
“A detailed nature guide and a humorous and engaging adventure story.”
—Science News
“Engaging, witty …[with] stunning drawings of the wildlife …From Mittelbach and Crewdson's descriptions, it's hard not to become enamored of the tiger … and the cavalcade of human characters is just as compelling.”
—Plenty magazine
“A stuffed tiger sends three New Yorkers to the ends of the earth—where they encounter devils, charnel houses and eco-madness. The Devil's Isle will never be the same again. This is taxidermy's greatest tough-love story.”
—Tim Flannery, author of A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals
“Sit down in a comfortable chair and get totally absorbed, as I did, with companions every bit as charming and more informative than André (as in My Dinner with).”
—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of Dogs Never Lie About Love and When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals
“Alexis Rockman and the thylacine are two of the most fascinating critters that have ever prowled the woods of Tasmania or the galleries and basketball courts of New York. Put them together, and you're off on a roaring adventure.”
—David Quammen, author of The Song of the Dodo
“[Carnivorous Nights] was like literary and artistic crack—it was so good I did not want to put it down and found myself going to bed much too late just so I could find out what happened next. It's full of suspense, wit, quirky characters, haunting paintings, and insight into nature and extinction.”
—E. J. McAdams,
executive director, New York City Audubon
“The authors recount their adventures with an offbeat sense of humor that makes the book appealing to a wide audience. Rockman's charming illustrations—made using organic materials he gathered on the trip— add a touch of whimsy to this delightful tale.”
—Islands magazine
Dedicated to
Charemaine and Quinn Li
—M.C.
Jon Carlo, Molly, and Danilo
—M.M.
my father, Raphael Russell Rockman
—A.R.
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
Map of Tasmania
1. A Peculiar Animal
2. Rock Art
3. The Once and Future Tiger
4. The Extinction Cabinet
5. Crossing the Strait
6. Day of the Dead
7. The Road to Tigerville
8. Devil Night
9. Hopping
10. Sexy Beast
11. Suicide Hen
12. Miller Time
13. A Tiger Hunter
14. Fishy Feast of the Fairies
15. Listening for Tigers
16. 1-300-FOX-OUT
17. The Red Fog
18. Sunbathing in Hell
19. Way Down Under
20. Drinking in the Tiger Bar
21. The Name Is Trowunna
22. Mythical Creatures
23. Quolling About
24. Blood and Slops
25. Beaches and Beasts
26. In the Name of George Prideaux Harris
27. Senator Thylacine
28. Flailing in the Styx
29. Cryptid
30. Remains
Acknowledgments
Notes
Suggested Reading and Viewing
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Map of Tasmania South Cape Bay soil and acrylic polymer on paper, 2004 12¼ × 9⅛ inches XIII
Thylacine Beaumaris Zoo soil and acrylic polymer on paper, 2004 9⅛ × 12¼ inches 2
Diamond Python Port Hacking soil and charcoal, 2004 12¼ × 9⅛ inches 13
White Ibis Port Hacking soil and charcoal, 2004 9⅛ × 12¼ inches 15
Gray-headed Flying Fox Port Hacking soil and charcoal, 2004 12¼ × 9⅛ inches 16
Gray-headed Flying Fox Port Hacking soil and charcoal, 2004 9⅛ × 12¼ inches 26
Thylacine Adamsfield soil and acrylic polymer on paper, 2004 12¼ × 9⅛ inches 36
Sulphur-crested