Wyman Meinzer Knihy

The lifestyle of the roadrunner is vividly captured in this unique book, featuring Wyman Meinzer's photographs and personal observations of several roadrunner families. He documents their daily routines, including courtship, nesting, and feeding their young. In one striking scene, a roadrunner circles a snake, testing its quickness. When the snake strikes, the bird swiftly leaps back and then forward, seizing the rattler by the head and tossing it into the air. After a fierce struggle, the roadrunner kills the snake by repeatedly beating it on the ground before taking it back to feed its fledglings. This method is consistent for all reptiles, including horned lizards and nonvenomous snakes. Meinzer also describes the nurturing behaviors of the roadrunners. After the young hatch, the female stays close to shelter them while the male tirelessly hunts for grubs and insects. When the female needs a break, the male takes over, allowing her to preen in the sun before she ventures into the mesquite thickets to return with food. This intimate portrayal of their lives highlights the dedication and resourcefulness of these remarkable birds.

Pitchfork Country: The Photography of Bob Moorhouse showcases the beautiful, almost mystical photos taken by the vice president and general manager of the historic Pitchfork Ranch in Guthrie, Texas. Moorhouse's photographic work reflects his trademark style and traditional western subjects that create the illusion of scenes from a bygone era.As a working cowboy who carries his camera sometimes twenty to thirty miles a day on horseback, Moorhouse has been able to record moments in the field few photographers will ever see. With an appreciation for great light and its selected application to the subject, his photographic images are an accurate portrayal of ranch life.Viewed in future years with the work of Erwin E. Smith, Ray Rector, and others who have photographed ranch life of the past 150 years, Moorhouse's images will be the standard for documenting ranching in the last quarter of the twentieth century.