Alligators, Prehistoric Presence in the American Landscape

Photographer Strawn spent nine years conducting a visual study of alligators in their natural habitat, the American South. Here, she's selected over 150 color photos and complemented them with written text that combines equal parts art, science, history, folklore, ecology and literature, supplemented by three in-depth essays by alligator hunter LeRoy Overstreet, conservation anthropologist Jane Gibson and ecologist J. Whitfield Gibbons. Strawn has a clearly felt enthusiasm for her subject that emerges in the fascinating details she uncovers about these ancient reptiles--such as, you can kick an alligator in the side and not worry, but if you unknowingly step on top of one, the moment you take one foot off, you're doomed. Readers will learn how alligators hunt, mate, raise their young, and how humans have affected and often threatened their lives. This book isn't just about alligators, but the people who use them; and some readers may be turned off by the extensive sections on hunting, slaughtering and processing gators by Gibson, Overstreet and Strawn (Strawn even adds a tongue-in-cheek recipe called ""Fire in the Swamp,"" involving alligator tails, grits and blueberry puree). (Apr.)