Furtive Fauna: A Field Guide to the Creatures Who Live on You
The author of the weirdly hilarious Flattened Fauna --a field guide to the common animals often bulldozed on highways by cars and trucks that has sold more than 125,000 copies--here casts his inquisitive eye closer to home to examine ectoparasites, little "friends" who live on the outer surfaces of our bodies. These range from female mosquitos (who stop by for a quick meal) to tooth amoebas (permanent and apparently harmless residents who subsist on stray bits of organic matter in our mouths). We're even introduced to flea researchers, who "feed their own fleas in little cages strapped to their ankles," a practice that minimizes the appeal of that career option. Knutson's lively descriptions of flies, chiggers, bedbugs, fungi and so on will most interest junior-high boys; adults may find the humor wears thin. Readers of all ages, however, can discover some useful tidbits (for example, if you spot a tick, use tweezers to get rid of it promptly) or at least learn humility from the fact that a maggot thinks a human looks pretty much like a dead animal or a piece of dung. Illustrations not seen by PW . Author tour.Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.