MAY I KEEP THIS CLAM, MOTHER? IT FOLLOWED ME HOME

by Ronald Rood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1973

An amusing, ambling but informative general guide to the home care of wild creatures one has sought out or been saddled with. Mr. Rood, who has related his experiences with odd specimens, intruders and companions in other books (How Do You Spank a Porcupine?; The Loon in My Bathtub, etc.), lays down broad basics for housing and feeding a wide selection of animals -- from one-celled life ladled out from ponds, through insects and amphibians (even mollusks), to birds and small mammals. He instructs the novice in the construction of various -aria (vivaria and formicaria for insects; aquaria and oceanaria, etc.), tells how to make a simple microscope, house a rat, set a wing. There are some important warnings: make sure your baby bird or mammal is an orphan before bundling it hearthward; know legal prohibitions in your region; and above all realistically assess what home care will entail (a young bird might need feeding about every half-hour) and remember that many such pets must be returned to the wilderness -- gradually. Not really a manual, but a genial and bolstering reference for those with a bird in the hand -- or a wild pig in the poke.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1973

Categories: NONFICTION