Best friends, Zack and Kyle, have fought many battles against the school bullies, but this time, they have found themselves against something more sinister: a panther. Lurking in the forest behind their subdivision is something more frightening than either of them expected. Before long, a confrontation will leave one boy fighting a battle for his life, and the other, a battle for his faith.

Wild Boar Hunting in the Mississippi Delta --

Hunting wild boar is a keenly held tradition in the Mississippi Delta. Fraught with danger, it challenges the hunter, observer, wildlife enthusiast, and landowner alike. Panther Tract is an insider's observance of extraordinary hunting, southern hospitality, camaraderie, and the love of dogs, horses, and hair-raising excitement. The over 160 photographs are representative of a “day at the hunt,” starting at dawn and ending well after dark. The tales center on vivid hunting experiences, both at Panther Tract, a large wilderness paradise in Yazoo County, owned by legendary southern gentleman Howard Brent, and in other locations in the Mississippi Delta. The narratives come from men, women, doctors, lawyers, judges, businessmen, politicians, farmers, sharecroppers' sons, and even a Hollywood screenwriter. Melody Golding's photographs focus on the Delta landscape and on the people and animals involved in the hunt. Portraits of the hunters, and their interactions with one another and their dogs and horses, fascinate. An award-winning photographer and an expert horsewoman, Golding brings a knowledgeable and critical eye to these images. The stories she collects range from traditional often humorous hunting tales to more serious accounts of the history of hog hunting in America. Hank Burdine, a Mississippi native and hunter who has written for many statewide publications, lends a broad vision to the history, statistics, and lore of hunting wild hogs. An appendix features hunt recipes by Chef John Folse and philosophy on the stewardship of harvesting the hog. A colorful and diverse assemblage of beautiful photographs and tales, this book reveals a treasured regional tradition.

Meshach Browning spent decades as a professional hunter and trapper of bears, boars and deer in rural Maryland during the early 1800s - this is his story, in his own words. Born in modest circumstances, Browning grew up at a time when the United States as a nation was in its infancy, with much of the population living in rural areas. From his youth, the author vowed to be self-sufficient, leaving his home and first love to hone his abilities as a hunter. Returning with money gained from selling pelts and meat, it is then that Meshach contemplates hunting as a career. The equipment used by the author is much inferior to that of the modern day. Meshach's use of a musket - a gun whose reliability is demonstrated as poor in several instances - leads him to rely on his skills in close quarters combat. On multiple hunts, described with stunning vividness in these pages, Browning's ability to battle animals in melee saves his life. The dangers of his trade are balanced by its lucrativeness: bear meat and pelt for instance fetched high prices on the open market. Though his life's work is the primary subject, Meshach Browning shows a tender side when describing his first marriage; his loving wife Mary bore him several children. In later chapters, he proudly teaches his sons the craft which sustained their family for so many years.

Raised in Egypt, the son of an English lord returns to London for revenge but instead finds love when he meets an enchanting beauty in a brothel. Original.

When the first field study of the Florida panther took place in 1973, so little was known about the animal that many scientists believed it was already extinct. During more extensive research conducted from 1981 to 1986, panthers were proven to exist, but the handful of senile, anemic, and parasite-infested specimens that were captured indicated a grim future. During those early years a remarkably enduring image of the panther was born, and despite voluminous data gathered over the next decade that showed the panther to be healthy, long-lived, and reproducing, that earlier image has yet to be dispelled. For nine years, biologist David S. Maehr served as project leader of the Florida Panther Study Project, helping to gather much of the later, surprisingly positive data. In The Florida Panther, he presents the first detailed portrait of the animal -- its biology, natural history, and current status -- and a realistic assessment of its prospects for survival. Maehr also provides an intriguing look at the life and work of a field biologist: how captures are made, the intricacies of radio-telemetry tracking, the roles of various team members. He describes the devastating intrusion of politics into scientific work, as he discusses the widespread problems caused by the failure of remote and ill-informed managers to provide needed support and to communicate effectively to the public the goals and accomplishments of the scientists. He examines controversial efforts to establish a captive breeding program and to manipulate the Florida panther's genetic stock with the introduction of relatives from west Texas. Protection of high-quality habitat, much of it in the hands of private landowners, is the key to the long-term survival of the Florida panther. Unless agency decisionmakers and the public are aware of the panther's true situation, little can be done to save it. This book will play a vital role in correcting widespread misconceptions about the panther's current condition and threats to its survival.