The Masked Bobwhite Rides Again [Paperback]

John Alcock (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Biologist John Alcock has been stomping around in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona for years, seeking odd varieties of cacti, chuckwallas, and other denizens of the hot country. In this collection of essays, he offers an unabashed, sometimes sentimental song of love for the desert--one bears the self-deprecating title "Confessions of a Cactus Hugger"--that will delight any fan of Edward Abbey or Ann Zwinger. The masked bobwhite, he reminds us in one essay, was hunted to extinction in Arizona at the beginning of the century. Not so long ago, however, a bird watcher traveling in Mexico spotted a few being raised for enchilada stuffing, bought the lot, and reintroduced them to the Southwest, where they are now making a comeback. Like Abbey, Alcock doesn't shy from pointing out what's wrong with the West, with its endless development and growth for growth's sake. Alcock is an original, a professional scientist who writes with vigor and an appreciation for the general reader. --Gregory McNamee

From Library Journal

Join Alcock on a tour of the Sonoran Desert and a trek along Usery Peak and Superstition Mountain in southeastern Arizona as he offers his observations of this remarkable desert ecosystem and its environs. In a series of essays, Alcock, a zoology professor at Arizona State University in Tempe and the author of several works on the Sonoran Desert, describes his encounters with saguaro cactus, kangaroo rats, army ants, termites, gnatcatchers, towhees, coyotes, black bears, warblers, and other flora and fauna and their behaviors and roles in the desert ecosystem. He discusses the history of settlement and growth in Arizona and the hostility of Anglo settlers toward Native Americans, which virtually destroyed the Arizona Apaches. Alcock is not kind to ranchers, whom he faults for causing ecological damage by grazing livestock on deserts and other public lands and for failing to understand the precarious balance of the desert. All readers will easily identify with Alcock's love of this land and wish they were there. Highly recommended.
- Irwin Weintraub, Rutgers Univ. Lib., Piscataway, N.J.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 186 pages
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press (September 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816514054
• ISBN-13: 978-0816514052
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,920,863 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #93 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Ecosystems > Deserts

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Passionate observer, January 23, 2004

By 

Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Masked Bobwhite Rides Again (Paperback)

It was love at first sight. John Alcock, after a strenuous journey from the moist, green, prolific environment of the Northwest, discovered the arid region of Arizona. He fervently embraced the land many scorn as useless. Now a desert dweller, he roams dry washes, climbs apparently sterile mountains and wanders in deserted Indian communities. He has a lover's eye for detail - subtle changes become suddenly apparent. When he shares his observations, as in this essay collection, you become one with his experiences. His style is passionate enthusiasm - and it's infectious. His descriptions of walks in the windy mountains bring chills. A tumble on a hillside evokes the pain of cactus spines in your hand. Outrage at the intrusion of humanity in this fragile region brings forth questions about your own values.

As a student of animal behaviour, Alcock's keen eye catches mating wasps, urbanised bird life and digging dung beetles. But he's not limited to animal life alone as he counts the numbers of staggering saguaros, pondering the cause of demise of these giant cacti. Each essay in this book is an intense expression of his fondness for the desert, its breadth, complexity and its surprises. He understands that what appears bleak and changeless to us is, in truth, a dynamic and vibrant community. The change, he insists, must be left to Nature's whims. Human impact on this fragile world can be and has been, devastating. Urban sprawl, water demands and highways have injured his beloved desert and Alcock resents the blemishes. He's most outraged at the practices of running cattle on public lands and the policies that maintain that invasion.

There's much to be learned about "seeing" from this book. It's hard, however, not to feel it would be an intrusion on a lover's intimacies by joining him on his treks. Better to let him go his own way and relate it to us through an amour's journal. Each of us, however, should find our own patch to adore and assess the way Alcock does. The more we know and share with each other the less likely we are to destroy it. "You always hurt the one you love" in our case would mean the loss of our own habitat. It's not something we can afford. There's no place to go "on the rebound". [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]