The Three-Minute Outdoorsman Returns

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The Three-Minute Outdoorsman Returns

From Mammoth on the Menu to the Benefits of Moose Drool

Robert M. Zink

312 pages
32 figures, 2 tables

Paperback

October 2018

978-1-4962-0361-8

$19.95 Add to Cart
eBook (EPUB)
Ebook purchases delivered via Leaf e-Reader

October 2018

978-1-4962-1292-4

$19.95 Add to Cart
eBook (PDF)
Ebook purchases delivered via Leaf e-Reader

October 2018

978-1-4962-1294-8

$19.95 Add to Cart

About the Book

Spending time in nature can raise some serious questions. After contemplating your own mortality, you may start to wonder: Why don’t deer noses freeze in the winter? What does mammoth taste like? Do fish feel pain? These are important questions, and Robert M. Zink has the answers.

Bringing together the common and the enigmatic, The Three-Minute Outdoorsman Returns includes over seventy three-minute essays in which Zink responds to the queries that have yet to cross your mind. Drawing on his zoological background, Zink condenses the latest scientific discoveries and delivers useful, entertaining information on the great outdoors. Can a sheep’s horns be too big? Was the Labrador duck a hybrid? Why did I miss that clay target? A large section on deer covers topics ranging from deer birth control backfiring, new information on Chronic Wasting Disease, supplemental feeding, and deer genetics. Other essays explore land, aquatic animals, and humanity’s relationship with nature, thus making this book of wild science an essential for any outdoors person.
 

Author Bio

Robert M. Zink is a conservation biologist and animal ecologist in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He is the author of The Three‑Minute Outdoorsman: Wild Science from Magnetic Deer to Mumbling Carp and a frequent contributor to Outdoor News.
 

Praise

"Zink's enjoyable follow-up to 2014's The Three-Minute Outdoorsman: Wild Science from Magnetic Deer to Mumbling Carp takes readers on an eclectic tour through various aspects of nature. Zink, a conservation biologist and animal ecologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, delves into dense scientific studies on sometimes obscure topics and, in a series of brief essays, translates their insights into layperson's language."—Publishers Weekly

"Have you ever gone out of your way to study a dead fish floating in one of Minnesota’s 10,000-plus lakes? Have you ever thought about how a well-manicured lawn could affect water quality and game and fish populations? Have you ever considered the relative benefits of moose drool? (We’re not talking about the popular brand of beer.) If such intellectual curiosities rarely, if ever, cross your mind, fear not. Robert Zink has you covered."—Tori J. McCormick, (Minneapolis) Star Tribune


Praise for Robert Zink’s book The Three‑Minute Outdoorsman: Wild Science from Magnetic Deer to Mumbling Carp:
 
“Robert Zink may be the perfect outdoor nimrod, an awestruck beginner with an inquiring mind. This book makes an old woodsy veteran like me pause to think about the fascinating and mysterious world in which we go forth to hunt and to fish. . . . all the while pretending to be experts.” —Ron Schara, host and founder of Minnesota Bound

“Robert M. Zink will capture the hearts of outdoors enthusiasts with a touch of science, a touch of common sense, uncommon wisdom, and a warm sense of humor. [This] is a must-read for anyone interested in nearly every aspect of the outdoor world.” —Babe Winkelman, outdoorsman and producer of the Outdoor Secrets
 
“[These are] explanations that come as easily as stories over beer. It is a unique look at the outdoors, from a guy who obviously has a lot of fun there.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
 
“[Zink] sparks every fact with wit and humanity.”—Dave Wood, Hudson Star-Observer

Table of Contents

List of Figures    
Preface    
Part 1. Stuff about Deer
1. Chronic Wasting Disease, Deer, and You    
2. The “Common Ground” among Genetics, CWD, and Bedbugs    
3. Deer Teeth and CWD    
4. CWD and Prions    
5. Let’s Expose a Bunch of People to CWD and See What Happens    
6. What Does per Capita Cheese Consumption and the Number of People Who Died by Becoming Tangled in Bedsheets Have to Do with CWD and Scrapie?     
7. Cats and Deer: It Just Gets Worse    
8. Adaptations of Deer Evolving through Time    
9. Things Deer Do    
10. Why Don’t Deer Noses Freeze in the Winter?     
11. Deer as Long-Term Survivors    
12. Deer and Optometrists    
13. Deer Numbers amid Changing Landscapes versus Our Memories    
14. Good Morning, Deer, Did You Sleep Well?     
15. Deer Parasites for Fifty Dollars    
16. Should Deer Use Bug Spray?     
17. Fawn Hide and Seek    
18. Now You See Them (Deer), Now You Don’t    
19. Birth Control to Manage Deer Backfires    
Part 2. Nature Amazes on Land
20. Can a Sheep’s Horns Be Too Big?     
21. Moose Drool    
22. The Worlds We Don’t See: Mysophobes Beware    
23. Stripes of the Zebra    
24. The Answer, My Friend, Is Peeing in the Wind?     
25. From Billions to Martha    
26. Rewilding    
27. Was the Labrador Duck Real?     
28. Looking Like a Duck Decoy    
29. How Long Have Man and Dog Been Best Friends?     
30. My Dog Does What in Which Direction?     
31. Wildlife with Weather Stations    
32. What’s Wrong with Fewer Large Carnivores?     
33. You Are What You Eat, So Be Careful or You Might Be Goosed    
34. Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow    
35. Nebraska Cranes, Now and Then    
36. Turkey Talk    
37. What Does Mammoth Taste Like?     
38. Why Are Pronghorns So Fast?     
39. Old Man River Doesn’t Mean Much to a Duck    
40. Phantom Roads and Birds    
41. How About a Road Trip to Mars?     
42. If You Are What You Eat, and What You Eat Stinks, Do Your Friends Say Something?     
43. A Long-Term Perspective on Ruffed Grouse    
Part 3. Nature Amazes in the Water
44. Cod Almighty    
45. Do Fish Eat Cormorants?     
46. Do Fish Feel Pain?     
47. When Catfish Are Hungry, Watch Your Step    
48. The Science behind Catch-and-Release    
49. Catch and Release Effects on Northern Pike    
50. What Happens to Northern Pike That Swim Off with a Lure in Their Mouths?     
51. Too Many Big Fish in a Lake Can Be a Bad Sign    
52. Can Fisheries Science Inform Fisheries Management?     
53. The Resurrection Ecology of Water Fleas Tells Us about Changes in a Minnesota Lake    
54. How Do You Say 1,,,,,,,,,,?     
55. Gape and Suck    
Part 4. Humans and Nature
56. Alternative Facts and Managing Game and Fish Populations    
57. No Food, No Clean Water, No Wildlife Habitat and Noise, Air, Soil, and Water Pollution: What Is It?     
58. Big Mammals Gone—Who or What Done It?     
59. Government Agencies Need to Step Up against Cats Outdoors    
60. Pascal’s Wager and Climate Change Skepticism    
61. A Scientific Program Dedicated to Eradicating Feral Cats: Eradicat!     
62. How Exactly Does “Science” Work?     
Part 5. Stuff for Hunters
63. Never Let the Truth Get in the Way of a Good Story about Cecil    
64. Hunting for Meat    
65. What Do Conceal-and-Carry Permits Have in Common with Four-Wheel Drive?     
66. How Could over Four Hundred Pellets Possibly Miss a Clay Pigeon?     
67. I Wouldn’t Kill an Animal, but I’m Not a Vegetarian    
68. On Being a Vegetarian    
69. Killing Feral Hogs Is Bad for the Environment—Huh?     
70. Maybe It’s Where You Put the Arrow, Not What You Put at the End of It    
71. Is Lead Dead in Hunting?     
72. Getting the Lead Out, Take 2    
73. Putting the “Safe” in Your Gun’s Safety    
74. Rattling, for Success    
75. Keeping Old Dogs in the Loop    
Postscript: Perspectives and Parting Thoughts    

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