Animals Behaving Badly: Boozing Bees, Cheating Chimps, Dogs with Guns, and Other Beastly True Tales [Paperback]

Linda Lombardi (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 4, 2011

There's a lot that animals don't want you to know, and the better their public image, the worse their secrets are: gang-rapist dolphins; lazy, infanticidal lions; and, of course, our own dogs, who eat our money, set our houses on fire, and in more than one case, actually shoot their owners with guns.

Animals Behaving Badly shows that animals are just like us: gluttonous, selfish, violent, lustful, and always looking out for number one. Using anecdotes from the news and from scientific research, Linda Lombardi pokes fun at our softhearted preconceptions about animals, makes us feel a little better about humanity's basest impulses, and painlessly teaches us a bit more about our furry and feathered friends.

You'll learn:

• Bees love alcohol: even, says one researcher, more than college students
• Pandas enjoy pornographic movies-they're particularly aroused by the soundtrack-and macaques will pay with juice to look at dirty pictures
• A rabbit who lives in a pub in England is addicted to gambling with a slot machine
• African elephants raised by teenage mothers form violent youth gangs

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is educational, hilarious, and it makes me wish it was legal to participate in cage fighting with an endangered species."
-Matthew Inman, TheOatmeal.com and author of  5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth

About the Author

As a child growing up in the Bronx, Linda Lombardi liked to play with a basket full of plastic animals instead of human dolls. Later in life, she gave up a tenured position as a college professor to take a zookeeping job. Formerly the pets and animals columnist for the Associated Press and author of the mystery The Sloth's Eye, she has spent much of her life either slaving over animals or writing about how great they are. This book is her revenge.
Visit her website and the Animals Behaving Badly blog at www.lindalombardi.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Perigee Trade; Original edition (October 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399536973
• ISBN-13: 978-0399536977
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #884,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As a child growing up in the Bronx, Linda Lombardi liked to play with a basket full of plastic animals instead of human dolls. Later in life, she gave up a position as a tenured college professor to take a zookeeping job. Formerly the pets and animals columnist for the Associated Press and author of the mystery The Sloth's Eye, she has spent most of her life either slaving over animals or writing about how great they are. The book Animals Behaving Badly is her revenge. Read the first chapter of The Sloth's Eye and the Animals Behaving Badly blog at her website, www.lindalombardi.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Kept me out of jail December 7, 2011

By James Lawson

Format:Paperback

This book was awesome because it gave me all sorts of alibis for arson and such. Who knew animals were such terrific scape-goats?

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Animals behave worse than you think October 6, 2011

By Melanie D. Typaldos

Format:Paperback

If you think this is a children's book, think again.

With my background and longstanding interest in behavioral biology, I was familiar with almost all of the behaviors described in this book but they seem so different when discussed in a dispassionate, scientific parlance. Lombardi's quirky sense of humor (also on display in her novel, The Sloth's Eye) puts a whole new spin on things. Looked at in this new light, some animal behavior is hilarious, some disturbing and some just plain disgusting.

When Lombardi compares the bad behavior of the animals in the book to human behavior, it doesn't matter how badly the animals behave, the humans still come off looking worse, although not in any kind of lecturing or preachy mode, just a little bit of introspection.

As a major capybara affictionado, I was relieved that capybaras only make two quick cameo appearances, both on the (slightly) positive side.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended October 28, 2011

By Justin Lindsay

Format:Paperback

I loved this book. Like other reviewers have said, it is a collection of a wide range of stories, facts, and statistics designed to give us a peek at the dark underbelly of wildlife that has otherwise been placed on a pedestal.

Animal facts aside, Linda's writing throughout the books is entertaining and engaging. If I do have a complaint, it's that I no longer view dolphins, hummingbirds, and chimpanzees the same way. :)

I highly recommend this book.