These animals are breaking human laws, after all, temporary codes that have only been in place for a few hundred or a few thousand years, whereas the animals themselves have usually been roaming the same localities for millions of years. The underlying irony of all these stories is of course the weird disparity in terms. Also, once the tractor passes, the elephant is coming, coming, coming again. But we grow corn and rice to feed ourselves. “From corn or rice to something like ginger or chilis, which elephants don’t like. “You tell us to change crops,” says one Indian woman, referring to small gardens kept for employees. When she talks with people in India who are dealing with elephants in their crops and neighborhoods and back lots, a genuine sense of desperation becomes palpable. She also ranges her interviews to other countries, and the results can be eye-opening. Unlike in centuries past, none of these modern-day professionals consider these wayward animals their enemies Roach accurately reflects a world in which these officers are heartbroken if they need to kill a bear that’s become too familiar with backyard garbage cans or a cougar that’s discovered the easy pickings of the local mountain bike path. She talks with animal control officers in many countries - and she does her customary hilarious job of relating their hard lessons, dorky enthusiasms, and deadpan humor. “Each conflict needs a resolution unique to the setting, the species, the stakes, the stakeholders.” In fifteen cheerful, fast-paced, funny chapters, Roach looks at deaths, home invasions, traffic violations like jaywalking, and massive amounts of food theft committed by the various usual suspects: bears, raccoons, mice, deer, elephants, even cougars, and many kinds of birds.Īs is her usual practice, Roach interviews humans involved in every aspect of these violations. “Two thousand species in two hundred countries regularly commit acts that put them at odds with humans,” Mary Roach writes at the beginning of her new book Fuzz When Nature Breaks the Law.

Fuzz mary roach review