Reddit mentions: The best nature & ecology books

Welcome! The answer is yes, there is a dictionary and some equipment, but it's not as much as you might think. A book and even a basic pair of binoculars will take you most of the way. Bird feeders are optional: some people do feeders as their entire effort, other people don't do feeders at all. It's up to you.

While you can go out with just your eyes and/or ears, most people prefer to take binoculars, a camera, or a spotting scope [miniature telescope]. Most people also either take some sort of ID aid.

A low-end but usable pair of binoculars will run $25-100 depending on the size, most "decent" to "good" binoculars will run $100+, with really high-end pairs up to $2500; it just depends on how much you're willing to spend.

With binoculars there are a couple things to look for:

• Style: all binoculars have a hinge and some sort of outer covering. A pair with a rubbery or plastic coating is ideal, though not required. The body may be narrower or wider, for general purposes the difference is aesthetic; there are differences but for your purposes they are not important. The hinge may be single or double; a double may have open space around the barrels, which is nice if you have bigger hands. Fiddle with the focus knob to make sure it is easy for you to reach and turn. Basically, make sure they are comfortable to hold and use.
  
  
• Power: A scope or pair of binoculars will have two numbers, like this: (8x32), (10x50), (12x50), or some similar set of numbers.
  
  
• • The first number is magnification. An 8 power gives you an 8x view, a 10x gives you a view ten times closer, and so on. The bigger the magnification, the "more" image you will see, but the harder it is to keep the image stable for reasons of physics.
    
    
• • The second number measures the diameter of the larger lens [the one away from your eye]. A "32" means the larger lens is 32mm across. A "50" means your largest is 50mm. The bigger the number, the more light-gathering power you have. If you plan to be out in lower light situations, or if you want to use the binoculars for astronomy, you want the biggest number you can get here. If you mostly plan to be out during the day a smaller number is recommended. Keep in mind that the bigger your binoculars, the heavier and bulkier they are.
    
    
• • Brightness matters. If you divide the lens size by the power, you get a number that helps you figure your brightness. For example, 8x32 works out to "4". 8x25 works out to "3". And if you go with 10x50 you get "5". The larger the resulting number, the better/brighter your image in general.
    
    
• • Most people settle on 8x42 because it gives you a good brightness with a magnification number most people can hold steady. By no means is this required, though. There are a variety of options available, and the best binocular is the one that is [1] comfortable in your hands, and [2] produces a steady image.
    
    
• • Scopes have similar specs and considerations, but are obviously more like a telescope. Cameras are very different, if you decide to go into cameras there is a whole other ball of wax to consider.
    
    Bird ID.
    
    You can use a book, an app, or both. Any bookstore or bird-feeder store should have bird id books, usually called "field guides". They include pictures of the birds and short descriptions, along with a map showing areas of the country where they are usually found. You can also download a variety of apps that will do this. They organize birds by type, so all the ducks are together, all the sparrows are together, all the herons are together, all the hawks are together, etc. Some use photos, some use drawing or painting. Some are big, some are small. Some are national, some are local. The most recognized names to look for are:
    
    
• National Geographic
  
• Peterson
  
• Sibley
  
• Kauffman
  
• Audubon
  
• Smithsonian
  
  
• Others: There a great many authors/compilers, look through whatever books your local store has available and find one that makes sense to you. As with binoculars, any book is useful, but the best one is the one you are most comfortable with. You can even get simple waterproof plastic folding "handout" type guides that only include the most common birds.
  
  If you prefer birds to be listed by color you need to look for the series by Stan Tekiela. The link is for his Colorado book, which is where I live, but he has books for every state.
  
  I would also recommend setting up an account at ebird, you can keep a checklist there along with all kinds of pictures, maps, and other useful stuff. The same people who run ebird also run All About Birds, and produce an app called Merlin. Merlin is free, and might be a good app to start with even if you eventually add others later.
  
  You might also google "birding + [home area]" as there are facebook groups in most areas, and there are often area specific websites. Here in Colorado, for example, we have both Colorado County Birding and the Colorado Birding Trail along with a variety of facebook groups, a google group, and a listserv. Your state/region likely has similar.
  
  I would also look up the Audubon chapter in your area. Some are more active than others; it is worth looking up your local unit to see if they are active in doing trips. Some areas may even have multiple active chapters.
  
  There may also be a bird or nature specific store in your area that does trips or other events. There are also a lot of birding festivals/events around the country at various times; many birders travel to them, but it is also ok to wait for one near you.

I'm in the Provo area, where are you?

Keep an eye out for the 2013 Timpanogos Gem and Mineral Society show at the Spanish Fork Fair Grounds... They usually sell a small orange pamphlet with directions to some really good locations. It's part of the fund raiser so worth the $5-$7, and of course ask the guys at the booth they love chatting about rocks. Gem Fair also comes to the South Town Expo center a few times a year but that is 70% beads and fake crap.

My favorite site for locations...
http://user.xmission.com/~jbdaniel/index.htm
Lots of good detail and some not very active forums.

I like the book Rockhounding Utah , http://www.amazon.com/Rockhounding-Utah-William-A-Kappele/dp/1560444460

You can use Amazon preview and google books preview to check out the most of the sites. Also, Google the table of contents listings and you're sure to find plenty of articles about the particular site.


Personally my favorite places are as follows (google to find directions etc).

The Dugway Geode beds are excellent, get directions online, take plenty of water and a high clearance vehicle (needed for the last 1 mile or so). Drive around until you find the pits with the tractor. DO NOT dig the pit the tractor is next to, leave that for the claim owner. He is okay with rock hounds digging the other pits though.

Looking for trilobites near delta is fun, although you may want to try some of the commercial pits rather than the public one next to UDIGG. If you are spending the time and gas $ to get out there you may want pay to work to the prime areas. I've spent a lot of hours smashing rocks in the public quarry with very little luck. However, if you are in it for the adventure searching around online should lead you to some directions to some pretty decent sites.

I tumble a lot of the stuff I collect so I go after a lot of agate and jasper. There is some pretty good agate out near Wendover near the salt flats. Take the road that heads toward Silver Island Mountains (lots of directions online and in books). That road gets graded every so often and I have found some amazing stuff just sitting off the side of road in the berm. Drive slow with your widow rolled down and eyes peeled.

Last Chance Road on I-70 between Salina and Grand Junction has some really nice agate. Be warned though, the sign at the start of the road warning about washed out roads is SERIOUS. Last year it was impassable by all but the toughest 4x4's, I came upon on sorry traveler that had been stuck in the mud for 8 hours before a truck came along that was capable of pulling him out. If it's a dry year like now it's no problem with a car.

The "ghost town" area on Joy, UT in the Drum Mountains (near Delta) has some nice agate and jasper. Look for a location called Agate Hill, I find lots of red/yellow jasper further up the road closer to the hills.

Vernon and Salina wonder stone are super easy to collect and look pretty neat. It's won't polish all that well but it makes for great decorative pieces as is.

A really good place for collecting obsidian is on highway 257 between Delta and Milford. There is a turn off for a dirt road that leads to Kanosh, most directions online and in books will mention a sign that says "Kanosh 26" don't bother looking, it burned down a few years back. Keep an eye out the side of the road for black chunks of obsidian. When you start seeing a bunch of it get out and walk around. It's all over. Lots and lots of black stuff, some areas have some rather large mahogany chunks. If you climb of some of the hills you will find some very small pieces of really bright read obsidian, but all the deposits I have found are really fragmented smaller pieces.

Sounds like fun! I can't tell you much about the camping scene, but I do have some good spots in South-Central Colorado. Granted, there's can still be a lot of snow at altitude in early May, so some of the sites might be iffy at the time of your visit. I'll mark those with a star.

Trout Creek Pass pegmatites, about 20 minutes east of Buena Vista. The Clora May Mine is the easiest to access, with only a ~15 minute hike uphill. It's got some great chunks of pink feldspar, biotite and muscovite mica, and some massive (in the geology sense of the term) quartz/smoky quartz. There's a smaller amount of black tourmaline, although the quality isn't generally great IMHO. But the real prize is the uncommon rare earth minerals such as Aeschynite-(Y), Polycrase-(Y), and Xenotime. They're generally not breathtakingly beautiful, but a fantastic addition to your collection if you're a chemistry buff. Don't try and take them on the plane with you, though -- some are surprisingly radioactive.

Ruby Mountain, ~20 minutes south of BV. It's easy to find, and not bad of a hike up. Halfway up, there's a good outcropping for perlite and obsidian "Apache tears". The top is mostly rhyolite, but there are small (think millimeters, not centimeters) garnets in some pieces. More rarely, there are some funky "flower" shaped formations with tiny crystals of topaz. This site is pretty well picked over and half is on private land, but it's definitely convenient.

The Rock Doc. Awesome rock and mineral store in the same area as the above. You can also pick up supplies, books, and local intel on collecting sites.

Also not a site as such, but the National Mining Hall of Fame in Leadville has a fantastic collection. The Rock Hut mineral store in town has good specimens, but a bit pricey for my taste.

Mount Antero. The aquamarine is legendary, but this is definitely not a casual collecting spot. Inaccessible most of the year, lots of active claims, bad afternoon lightning storms. Wouldn't recommend unless you happen to plan ahead with an experienced local as a guide.

There are a few quarries, mines, and collecting sites around and behind Salida. Midway Springs has some cool Aragonite features -- you can find bright red-and-white chunks that look like miniature caves, including speleothems. There's good Magnetite and Actinolite specimens from the Calumet Mine, but it's not always open to collecting. I've never found anything worth writing home about in this area, but there's many sites I haven't seen.

Browns Canyon. The old fluorite mine on the way down has a bit of botryoidal white/clear fluorite on the dumps, but as above -- nothing to write home about. Cool igneous rocks further down the road, and I've found hydrothermal deposits of the uncommon tennis-ball green Vanadium mineral Volborthite.

There's stuff up towards the ghost town of St Elmo, but it's a bit hard to get to (especially before June/July) and there are active claims.

Go to the Bayou Salado Trading Post in Hartsel. The owners hold claims on nearby land for blue and yellow Barite, and you can dig for a nominal fee of like ~$5. It's very hot in the summer, but the crystals are abundant and just lie scattered in the red mud. They actually get more blue with sunlight exposure, unlike most minerals! There are some bigger clusters buried, if you're willing to dig.

Bonanza is an old mining town (pop. 16) further south in Saguache County. Not a lot to find without local help and 4WD, but I have found tiny crystals of Sylvanite, one of Colorado's famous Telluride minerals.

Westcliffe / Silver Cliff, previously a silver mining region. I've only been down this way once, but there are lots of digsites on public land north of town. My best find from that day was Rhyolite with Liesegang Rings. The Sangre de Cristo Gallery and Rockshop in town had great prices, in my experience.

Pinnacle Mine, across Monarch Pass. It's an active uranium mine and closed to collecting, but I thought I'd mention it because the front gate (covered in "No Trespassing" and "Danger -- Radioactivity" signs) is an awesome place for a selfie.

You might also check your library for copies of Voynick's Colorado Rockhounding, Kapelle's Rockhounding Colorado, and especially Mitchell's Gem Trails of Colorado, as they all have detailed site reports.

Oh, and you might also take a look at the Peak to Peak guide to CO sites, GatorGirl's pages for Colorado and Utah, and the Mindat pages for both states.

The Ouachita (pronounced Wash-it-aww) and Ozarks are national forests and very, very large. Lots of good places within them though.

My suggestion would be to go to the Buffalo River and hike Hemmed-in-hollow and Goat Trail on the same day or to hike Indian Creek. Hemmed-in-Hollow is a waterfall and Goat trail takes you onto the side of a quite tall bluff. Indian creek is a creek you can hike/wade to see some excellent waterfalls. At the end there's a cave you used to be able to climb through to get to what's called the Eye of the Needle but it's been closed for several years to protect the bats. Just getting to that point is a lot of fun though. Great photographs too. Renting a canoe and floating the Buffalo river is fun. Not a lot of white-water just a few rapids and a fun day on the river. If you're in this area at night stop by to see the Elk. They were reintroduced several years ago and come out to graze in a farm nearby. There will probably be a dozen cars parked on the side of the road watching them.

Drive down to Petit Jean state park. The Boy Scout trail there is ~10 miles long and there's plenty of other short ones you can loop together. Cedar Falls is only a short hike and a great view.

Hot Springs is nice but not top of the list. The trails there are pleasent but the downtown is pretty touristy. Still, it's a National Park and I always like to cross those off my list.

After that go southwest to Eagle Rock Loop. It's been mentioned before for a reason. It's great.

Other ideas are the Richland Creek wilderness area, the Hurrican Creek wilderness area, Forked Mountain, and Sylamore creek. The books below have a pretty extensive list of trails. The three long trails are the Ozark Highlands Trail (165 miles), the Ouachita Trail (222 miles), and the Buffalo River Trail (~40 miles).

https://www.amazon.com/Ouachita-Trail-Guide-Tim-Ernst/dp/1882906438/ref=sr_1_19?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505103125&sr=1-19&keywords=Tim+Ernst

https://www.amazon.com/Arkansas-Hiking-Trails-Selected-Natural/dp/1882906128/ref=sr_1_1/136-4949382-1411237?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505103098&sr=1-1&keywords=Tim+Ernst

https://www.amazon.com/Arkansas-waterfalls-guidebook-Tim-Ernst/dp/1882906489/ref=sr_1_3/136-4949382-1411237?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505103098&sr=1-3&keywords=Tim+Ernst
https://www.amazon.com/Ozark-Highlands-Trail-Guide-Ernst/dp/188290639X/ref=sr_1_4/136-4949382-1411237?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505103098&sr=1-4&keywords=Tim+Ernst

https://www.amazon.com/Buffalo-River-Hiking-Trails-Ernst/dp/1882906403/ref=sr_1_5/136-4949382-1411237?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505103098&sr=1-5&keywords=Tim+Ernst

Ok then, my favorite spot in the whole southeast is in NC but it's only 3 hours away. You'd park at a place called Big Fat Gap off US 129. Which is just north of Robbinsville NC, and 3 hours from Marietta. And from there the possibilities are pretty endless.

You'd Want to pick up this book http://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Trails-Kilmer-Slickrock-Citico-Wildernesses/dp/156145415X it's written by the same dude who wrote the book in my other post in your thread.

If you drive out big fat gap road (directions in book) And there is a nice camping spot about 1/2-3/4 of a mile down the trail that continues to go in the same direction as the road.

The area has everything. Bald mountains, rocky outcrop/ridge tops where you can see forever in 330°. Beautiful rushing creeks with trout.

One caveat. You can't bring your dog. Not because of any rules, but because it's hunting season, and there they hunt with dogs. Sometimes pit bulls in hog season, and they have been known to get aggressive with pets. I've personally never seen a hog dog in my 12 years of going there. Usually it's deer dogs, which are the sweetest dogs you'll meet. Usually Black and Tan/Beagle mixes or something like that. And don't worry about the hunters. They stick to the trails and mostly stay in the parking lots. Also they're very nice people who always share their beer and engage in small talk. Just turn up your southern accent and you'll be fine.

If you like this idea I will list out a specific list of trails in the area for you to check out.

If this seems too far or something I have a few other ideas. Just let me know. I've been doing this for 20 years, and I'm the guy who always plans the trips in my group, because I enjoy it. So don't hesitate.

If you're willing to drive a couple hours farther, and deal with possible snow there's another place I have in mind also...

When it comes to the abolitionist vs. reductionist "debate", there are a massive number of misconceptions on both sides. The thing is both "sides" want the same thing: minimizing harm done to animals. Everyone agrees that a world in which fewer nonhumans were harmed would be better than a one in which more nonhumans were harmed. So then where does the divide come from?

Well, as it turns out, there are multiple stages of behavioral change.

>Stage 1: Pre-contemplation: The individual does not recognize that their behavior needs changing. In the context of animal advocacy, the individual may proudly consume animal "products" and state that they have no intention of ever changing.

>Stage 2 — Contemplation: The person first begins to consider the merits of changing the behavior. They may ask for information about vegan nutrition or recipes, or ask about videos that show the cruelty of the animal agriculture industry.

>Stage 3 — Preparation: The individual perceives a need to change and is getting ready to do so. They may indicate that it's time for them to go vegan and that they are ready to take that final step.

>Stage 4 — Action: The individual is actively working on changing the behavior. Here, the individual is in the early stages of their transition to veganism and is changing their routines.

>Stage 5 — Maintenance: The behavioral change has been made and the individual is working to prevent relapsing to their old ways. This phase is critical because a relapse is a very real concern, though the more one resonates with ethical arguments of veganism related to minimizing our harm to animals, the less likely they are to revert to non-veganism.

Misconception #1: Abolitionism condemns people who take baby steps.

So this is where a lot of the confusion arises. Abolitionism isn't against encouraging baby steps, it's against advocating for baby steps as an end goal. One can still be assertive with the idea that animals "are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way" (i.e., Stage 1) while encouraging those who are making changes (Stage 4), and in fact this sweet spot leads to the best activism possible: it means animal rights advocates never advocate for any kind of animal abuse yet still encourage change along the way to the end goal of veganism.

Misconception #2: Abolitionism is about being morally pure in our advocacy, reductionism is about being effective.

This is a common way to sterotype abolitionists and reductionists, but in fact abolitionism is precisely about valuing what is the most effective form of activism over what what merely feels good. This leads to the next misconception:

Misconception #3: Advocating for less-than-veganism is the most effective way to get people to start making changes in the right direction. (Alternatively, advocating for veganism scares people away from making small changes.)

To some, this seems intuitive; if people are angry at us for advocating such "extreme" ideals, won't that make them more likely to ignore us or even harm more animals? Well, the core of clinical behavioral change science does not agree.

To quote Casey Taft, one of the vegan community's leading experts on this topic:

>Our goal should be to work on motivating people to go vegan; then, once they have made the commitment to do so, we can help them take the steps necessary to get there. That is a true behavioral change strategy.

>Many individual animal advocates and organizations fear promoting veganism as an end goal because they feel that if they're too "pushy" they will lose people altogether. This is likely a leading factor in why a larger cultural shift towards veganism has not occurred. It is in fact possible—and optimal—to clearly state a goal of ending violence towards animals and work with non- vegans in a productive, non-aggressive manner to produce behavioral change.

>Many of us (myself included) took many years to go vegan, and progressed from reducing animal consumption to transitioning to a plant-based diet and then veganism. Some argue that since they took a gradual approach, this is what we should be advocating for others. What they are missing, though, is that if they received clear vegan messaging to end all animal use, they may have gone vegan much sooner and prevented the deaths of many more animals. When we advocate for veganism as an end goal, people will naturally reduce their animal consumption, but will likely do so at a faster pace and will ultimately go vegan. Some will literally go vegan overnight.

>Some animal advocates may also argue that it is simply more effective to ask people to cut down on animal use rather than asking them to go vegan. It is important to keep in mind that there is absolutely no scientific evidence for such claims, [...] and this perspective is not based on any sound theoretical rationale for long-term behavioral change. In fact, such notions disregard a wealth of data showing that it is important to set clear long-term goals that involve a true discrepancy between that goal and current behavior. In other words, it is counterproductive to "settle" for an easy-to-attain goal that the individual is likely to change without our intervention when we could be helping to set more challenging long-term goals to strive for, and that would represent truly internal behavioral change.

>You might still be asking yourself, "That all sounds good, but what if the person I'm communicating with refuses to commit to going vegan?" My response is that I would expect the other person not to make that commitment when you first begin discussing veganism with them in particular. However, their resistance to committing to veganism does not mean that they are a lost cause by any means. Your communication with them may have helped stimulate some thoughts on the issue, and perhaps it will open the door to them having a follow-up discussion or conducting some research on their own. Few people go vegan after any one particular interaction, and we must not place too much pressure on ourselves to make others go vegan after any interaction. Making such a commitment is best thought of as a process. [...] All that we can do is to help move them closer to choosing veganism, but we cannot force them to change, and we should not engage in desperate tactics such as asking them to reduce their animal use rather than promoting veganism because it is less conducive to long-term change.

>We should also be mindful of our larger end goal at the societal level in our advocacy efforts. If our goal is to ultimately convince the world population that we must end all animal use, we should be treating veganism as an issue of social justice and should not encourage others to continue to think of animals as "products" for which we can continue to consume in moderation. We must be careful that our animal advocacy does not perpetuate oppressive views of nonhuman animals, which would ultimately be to their detriment.

Misconception #4: It is permissible for abolitionists to be agressive in their advocacy.

Often times online you will encounter vegans who, in an "argument" against a nonvegan, will degrade themselves to name calling, personal attacks, and bad form. Remember, abolitionism is about what is most effective, not what feels right, and such behaviours are clearly detrimental to the movement.

Such behaviours are often pinned on abilitionism, however, because of a confusion between aggressiveness and assertiveness. The thing is, both aggressiveness and assertiveness may lead to anger, but these are very different types of anger. One leads to increased hatred, while the other leads to true social change, as clearly demonstrated by the civil rights movement and every other social justice movement before and afterwards.

>“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

>Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Further reading and listening:

1. Casey Taft's Motivational Methods for Vegan Advocacy: A Clinical Psychology Perspective, from which most of the quotes in this post originate
   
   
2. Amazing Vegan Outreach's Why Vegans Need to be More Annoying, a presentation on the principles of Kingian nonviolence
   
   ^^Since ^^this ^^topic ^^came ^^up ^^frequently ^^in ^^this ^^thread, ^^rather ^^than ^^commenting ^^multiple ^^times, ^^I ^^will ^^merge ^^the ^^threads ^^here.
   ^^/u/autoswamp ^^/u/MikeVegan ^^/u/Serrahfina ^^/u/sonnywoj ^^/u/AxilyaOryl ^^/u/I-_-II ^^/u/liberalindianguy ^^/u/Sanious ^^/u/klmoviat ^^/u/georgebshaw ^^/u/meatspin27 ^^/u/burtshort ^^/u/Frog-Eater ^^/u/thrwpllw ^^/u/BBMathlvr ^^/u/botania ^^/u/refined_compete_reg
   
   
   

Here's my recommendations for a new birder starter kit:

1. Binoculars: Nature DX 8x32 are solid and affordable.
   If you have the extra dough, the Vortex are a great step up from there.
   
   
2. Field guide: People will have varying opinions but as a beginner, I found the Kaufman guide the easiest to learn with and use everyday. It doesn't provide as in-depth of detail as other guides but it is laid out in a way that makes it easy to approach an unknown ID as a novice, and highlights the most important distinguishing features to tell different birds apart.
   
   
3. A good app: Merlin Bird ID is a fantastic app for quickly IDing birds on the go. It's free too! I use it everyday, along with eBird to log my sightings.
   
   Hope that helps and happy birding!!

I'd recommend getting Kenn Kaufman's guide, it isn't huge and is good for comparing birds. There are some good apps out there too, if you'd rather bring a phone or tablet. I usually just use the Sibley app on my phone.
Binoculars are pretty important. I started with a pair of $50 ones from a sports store and they were junk. and then I got a pair of big Nikons for around a $100, and they were better, but too big. I finally have a pair of Eagle Optics Rangers, they are $300 and I really like them. But I've looked through a pair of $1000+ Swarovskis and wow, those are great, but not much better than mine. I have 10x42s, which I would recommend. But get these Atlas binoculars for $100. They are really nice, I bought my dad a pair for Christmas and they felt as good as my other pair, for a third of the price. They would treat you really good for a long time. Plus they are water and fog proof, important for Florida.

Crap, I just saw that those Atlas binoculars are out of stock, sorry.

-1. Rock hammer

• Either get a pick type, if you go for hard rock hand samples,
  
  or a chisel type, if you want soft rocks and fossil beds.
  
  
• Either way if you have the $$ go Estwing, else whatever you can find at Home Depot.
  
  -2. Hand lens
  
  
• 10x is classic, sometimes 14x is nice for tricky mineral identification.
  
• LED lights are fun, but typically found on lower quality optics
  
• Best you can get? Bausch & Lomb Hastings Triplet 10x - $35. Probably can get something cheapo from China on Amazon for a few bucks.
  
  -3. Simon & Schuster's Guide to Rocks & Minerals Nuff said.
  
  -4. Got some cash to burn? A handheld GPS is pretty nifty.
  
  -5. Small bottle of hydrocloric acid. Can be handy for quick IDing of carbonates, but often not worth the hassle. Alternative: learn your mineralogy, bring a pocket knife.
  
  -6. Sharpies, pens, masking tape, and a field book. Keep notes! Label rocks so you can track your finds.
  
  -7. Camera!
  
  -8. Sample bags - anything tough but soft should do. Pros often use canvas.
  
  If you're feeling ambitious, raid your garden shed for anything good at moving earth. I've had a lot of luck recently with Estwing's prybars, chisels, and crack hammers with popping sediment beds out, but there's no need to go for name brands for these items. It's all about what you're going after...
  
  Happy hunting!

This is so thoughtful! I think if you search for farmers' markets in Conway and Little Rock you should find a ton of resources. You can actually buy local online at Arkansas Local Food Network. You might want to check out Little Rock Urban Farming too.

As far as locally sourced meats go, the only place I can personally vouch for is Hillcrest Artisan Meats. Their FB page is really informative too. I've also heard great things about Falling Sky Farm. EatWild could be really useful to you as well.

Ok, on to the bit I know something about: Hiking!
Some of the best times of my 7 year relationship were spent waterfall hiking in the winter with my boyfriend. No snakes and, if you're lucky, frozen solid waterfalls. Arkansas Waterfall Guidebook and Arkansas Hiking Trails are my favorite books on the subject. The best trails/waterfalls (IMO) are near Jasper, so if you guys have a free weekend it would be really fun to rent a cabin and hike around. Jasper has lots of cool local shops and restaurants too.

If you've never gone to Lake Louise and the Valley of the Ten peaks, I'd definitely head there first. Moraine lake as well, it's always busy out there but it's so beautiful, it's definitely worth it. If you haven't ever seriously been hiking, I'd start out with some of the more popular trails. This book is worth the investment for sure, especially if you want less well-known hikes. I've been hiking my whole life, if you have any questions feel free to ask me or PM me. :) enjoy yourself.

Oh yeah, there's lots of good trails.

I'm a big fan of Tim Ernst's books He also has one on the OHT specifically, the Ouachita trail, and the Buffalo River, as well as some nature photography books.

Sylamore Creek is a hidden gem, but connects to the Ozark Highlands trail, which runs 218 miles through much of the width of Arkansas.

The Buffalo River corridor has many hiking trails which are spectacular. Hemmed in Hollow and Lost Valley are two favorites there.

The butterfield loop in Devil's den state park is about 13-14 miles. It can be done in a day, but is a nice easy 2 day, with side trips up to the site of an 1840's pioneer church and some swimming and fishing in Lee Creek. Going to the actual devil's den cave is a short little hike, but the cave itself makes a fun day hike. It's pretty amateur friendly as far as caves go.

On the east side of the state there's lake charles, with 2 short day hikes, and Crowly's ridge state park which is a decent day hike. Also village creek state park which has about a 9 mile loop hike with many side trails, but would be a pretty far drive from missouri.

Carpet Python sounds like what you want. I don't know where you heard about feeding problems but generally Carpets are garbage disposals. Jungles and IJs are known to sometimes get stuck on mice but it's not super common. They aren't as sensitive as Ball Pythons are to stress and will not go off feed just because. They're extremely easy to take care of, easier than your Ball Pythons. Humidity is not as big of a concern and as long as you are changing water out regularly (every 2-3 days) and they are staying hydrated you will get nice sheds even in lower humidity.

I recommend you contact Nick Mutton @ Inland Reptile. He's not only the largest Carpet breeder here in the States, but also arguably the best. You will not get a mutt animal from him. All of his stuff is honestly represented and it is what he says it is. He has and provides lineage for all of his animals. He also wrote The Complete Carpet Python, the best book currently out on the complex (which i also recommend you purchase).

I would always reccommend an actual field guide over an app, they are just more useful, but apps can be a good complement. For field guides, Sibley just came out with his new guide, which is probably the best one you can get.

You could also try National Geographic or Peterson's Guides, they are good. Kaufman has a really good guide that is geared more towards beginners, but has as much info as a full-sized guide.

As for Apps, there is Sibley, National Geographic, Peterson's, and iBird PRO, all of which are decent and have bird songs on them, which is probably the best feature. Its mostly personal preference between these.

Here is a nice website if you're looking for anything in particular or just want to know more in your area. I'm from the east side of OR so I'm a bit jelly you're on the coast, agates are my favorite to collect. One book I highly recommend is this. If you're like me and have no idea where to go it's a great guide. I am also new to the rock collecting scene and have started tumbling too, it's great fun and I hope you keep finding awesome stuff!

They're extremely different! For starters, a Red-tailed Hawk is a buteo. Big rounded head, broad shoulders, medium-length tail, thick legs and big feet. Merlins are falcons so they're long and slender with long tails, and thin but very long toes.

Additionally, the coloration on these two birds is totally different. Red-tailed Hawks are super variable, admittedly, but they never have this gray tone to the back - rather, various shades of brown and sometimes slightly gold, with white-mottled scapulars. Most Redtails will also have an apparent belly band pattern - clear whitish breast, dark feathers across the lower belly, and then whitish or very slightly streaked leg feathers.

I'd recommend familiarizing yourself first with the general shape differences between buteos, accipiters, and falcons, as well as a handful of oddities like harriers, kites, and osprey. Eagles are kind of their own set of weird things but if you can figure out the first three on sight then you can look closer when something doesn't fit one of those. And when it does, you can then narrow down into which buteo, accipiter, or falcon you have based on finer plumage and habitat details.

A really good book to check out, if you're interested in raptor ID, is Hawks in Flight. It's a perfect primer to figuring these guys out.

I understand I was a level 10 meat fanatic before I went vegan. Since you've seen Earthlings you already know there's no way the fleeting taste sensation from eating animals is worth it. Farmed animals have just a strong a desire to stay alive as you and I and I'm glad you've decided to make the switch!

The FAQ has a bunch of tips and since it's still January this Veganuary website has loads of tips and info for people starting out.

You may be interested in reading just to build on that desire to avoid animal products. Eating Animals is a well written and easy read from a more investigative, curious perspective. Also, Eat Like You Care is a very simple and short but very clear explanation on the morality of consuming animals.

But the biggest tip is that although right now it seems like a huge switch once you stop eating animals for a few days and start getting the hang of it you'll be amazed at easy it gets.

My wife is a definite non-hiker, and so I searched the book Where Locals Hike in the Canadian Rockies and looked for hikes that are classified as "easy", are around 4 hours or less, and have an elevation gain of less than 500 m. I also preferred hikes that weren't in like Lake Louise, because we don't always want to spend 2-1/2 hours in the car each way and/or $20 for a park pass.

Here are some good ones:

• West Wind Pass - 393 m elev and 3 hours - south of Canmore along the east side of the Spray Lakes road (hwy 742). A bit difficult/unintuitive to follow the trail, but nice views of the Spray Lakes reservoir going up, and a great view at the pass.
  
  
• Rawson Lake - 300 m elev and 3 hours - from Highwood Pass (hwy 40). Beautiful backdrop behind a mountain lake for the price of a short hike.
  
  Johnston Canyon, as others have mentioned above, is a classic too. It doesn't have the high mountain views, but the canyon itself is neat, and I like the 1950s metal walkways. 215 m elev and 4 hours to the ink pots (small mineral pools). Note that you have to buy a park pass for this one.
  

The first book is awesome, it has every national park, monument, historic sight, everything. The pictures are great and very high quality, and there is a solid map with trails for every national park. Each park has a section that talks about each area of the park, the easiest way to drive through it and see everything, hikes, etc, and has contact info. Here is the [link:](https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Complete-United States/dp/1426205279)

The next book is just hiking and camping, and goes through every national park (I think) and gives hikes with detailed maps and GPS waypoints. Its really cool, and although I haven't used it for a hike yet, I plan to in the future. It also has little stories about hikers and rangers and camping tips and tricks. It is by backpacker magazine.
Here is the link:

Now I know these aren't really coffee table books, but they are great for planning trips. If this isn't what you are looking for, I have some more lying around I can recommend, but these are my favorites.

Hope this helps! Have fun touring all the parks - its something I would like to do one day.

I'm not really good at physics, and I took a course taught by a professor who proudly taught tough introductory physics courses (5 credits each for Physics 1 and 2 w/ labs). He was funny, but the way he did tests was that he taught the equations (but advised against just memorizing formulas), why they worked, and how they come about with aid from the text book, gave us hints, but the exercises were all pretty unique and mostly from this book. I didn't know what my grade was until the end of the class. Thought I was gonna get a 2.0, but turned out I got a 3.0. That book was also pretty easy to read, I know there are illegitimate copies available using bittorrent.

So by reading the text, doing the assigned homework, and seeking resources outside the text or professor like youtube videos or something that show a different way of looking at the problem really help. If you study, practice, and ask questions, there isn't any reasonable explanation for failure.


Basically, you have to know the calculus and algebra used in physics well and use logical and creative thinking and you can figure out the solution.

That one should be required reading for winter hikers (hikers in general). Not everyone dies but some do (tragically and needlessly), others escape with a few missing extremities, and yet others unscathed only due to pure luck.

Another good one, that's focused on the Adirondacks, is Peter Bronski's At the Mercy of the Mountains. If you found 'Not Without Peril' engrossing, you'll like 'At the Mercy' as well.

FWIW, check out chapter 8 about Steven Thomas. That one strikes a chord because I still recall seeing his "Lost" posters. They were nailed to trail-registers back when I started hiking in the High Peaks (in the Paleozoic Era). Talk about a sobering sight for a budding new hiker!

Unlike the recent Whiteface skier, who showed up in Sacramento, Steven Thomas was never found (not even a trace). However, I recall some people theorizing that he "disappeared himself" to start anew elsewhere. However, that theory is unproven and certainly doesn't give his family any comfort.

Some of the better day hikes I've done in the parks. Check conditions before heading out. Some trails can still be snow covered or impassable in June.

• Lake Louise: Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse
  
• Banff National Park: Sentinel Pass
  
• Banff National Park: Paradise Valley
  
• Columbia Icefields Parker Ridge trail
  
• Jasper Sulphur Skyline
  
  Other things:
  
  
• Chat with the rangers in the Parks Canada offices (Banff & Jasper) before heading out. They'll recommend good alternatives if your plan is too ambitious.
  
• Reach out to the Jasper Trail Alliance. They are amazing. They will give you info on current trail conditions and give great recommendations for hikes.
  
• Jasper Brewing Company Beer and food and beer.
  
• Bear's Paw Bakery
  
• Don't waste your time in the Canadian Rockies might be worth checking out.
  
  Edit: Formatting

Check out this book. https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/dont-waste-your-time-in/9781927462027-item.html Or https://www.amazon.ca/Dont-Waste-Your-Canadian-Rockies/dp/0968941974 for the regular book

Lol, you'd like to avoid crowds in Banff, that's like saying I don't really want to see people when visiting New York City.

Where are you staying? Here's the thing about Banff, it's super close to Kananaskis and Kootenay National Park.

Other good options are to google blogs about hiking in Banff, you'll get really good info and current info as well, wildfires have done some serious damage here the last 3 out of 4 years.

Of course there's Mt. Temple, Sunshine, Bourgeau Lake, etc...

Here's a dude with a passionate blog about hiking: http://hikingwithbarry.com/category/banff-national-park

Sounds like you might find these four books useful:

Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change
by Nick Cooney

How to Create a Vegan World: A Pragmatic Approach by Tobias Leenaert


Beyond Beliefs: A Guide to Improving Relationships and Communication for Vegans, Vegetarians, and Meat Eaters
by Melanie Joy PhD

Motivational Methods for Vegan Advocacy: A Clinical Psychology Perspective
by Casey T. Taft

Stan Tekiela is an incredible write of bird books. I have the vermont one and it is the best, here is the Colorado Bird field guide he wrote, I imagine it’s pretty good. Good luck!

Rockhounding New England: A Guide To 100 Of The Region's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0762783656/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_6X26wb5VVT2AP

Rockhounding New York: A Guide To The State's Best Rockhounding Sites (Rockhounding Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0762779004/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_KY26wbYF584VV

Roadside Geology of New York (Roadside Geology Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0878421807/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_dZ26wbRZZCT7B

The Collector's Guide to the Minerals of New York State (Schiffer Earth Science Monograph) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764343343/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_DZ26wbH96TSC2

--------

I've found rockhounding books usually have good intros and brief explanations which is good for beginners.

This one. I thought it was really good actually, I remember it making the concepts pretty clear. But yeah the end is definitely where it got much more difficult without the right math background. But, my schools 4 year plan I have been following isn't very good, as my friends and I had figured out the hard way.

On the bright side, when I do get around to taking Calc 3 this fall, a lot of the concepts will be familiar. I've already had experience with vector calc, partial derivitives, and double/triple integrals.

Go to the Rocky Mountains. This book is pretty good about letting you know about good hiking spots, though a lot of the good ones became more popular because of the book.

If you are interested in the outdoors in Arkansas, then you'll want to look in to the works of Tim Ernst, a wildlife photographer and local authority on all things outdoors. His Arkansas Hiking Trails is a must have for a start, and he has many other books on different facets of being outdoors in the state. You will be living in the beautiful Ozark Mountains, and within about an hour to an hour-and-a-half driving you will have access to almost all outdoor activities that Arkansas has to offer, from trout fishing to rock climbing to canoeing/kayaking, to mountain biking. I could go on, but you get the picture.

Welcome! and enjoy!

A couple of books to get if you live in the area: Ozark Highlands Trail guide and the Arkansas Waterfall Guidebook, both by Tim Ernst. He also has one specific to the Buffalo River area.

The other great resource is the Forest Service site. Either use the interactive map or go direct with the Find A Forest tool. Recreation | Camping menu will lead you too a bunch of places as will the Maps & Publications choice.

The Buffalo River area is a National Park so a bit more restrictive. There is backcountry camping or you can go to some of the established campgrounds and just move up or down stream a bit. Kyles Landing and Steel Creek are popular places to jump off from.

I've spent more time south in the Ozark Highland area. White Mountain is a favorite. White mountain / shores lake loop. Not dispersed but in the middle of nowhere. Camp host last time out made a mean batch of cider.

Anywhere along the Ozark Highland Trail is nice.

From Little Rock you should head west in to the Ouachita area. Ouachita Trail very similar to Ozark Highland.

Check out Ouachita Maps for good hiking and backpacking ideas for much of Arkansas.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rocks-Minerals-Handbooks-Chris-Pellant/dp/1405359889/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407925317&sr=8-1&keywords=dk+rock+and+minerals

Lots of pretty pictures for him just now, and the text will be easy enough to read by age 10(ish), maybe younger if he maintains a really big interest like I did with dinosaurs at around that age.

i picked up At The Mercy of the Mountains at the excellent ithaca book sale a few months ago. it covers the stories of a variety of misadventures, accidents, and deaths which have taken place in the adirondacks over the years. it was a pretty good read and absolutely worth the $.50 or so i payed for it.

Utah is still a wonderful place for rockhounding and fossil hunting. Especially between Delta, UT and Tooele, UT (western border of the state).

Consider getting this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Rockhounding-Utah-William-Kappele/dp/1560444460

Talk to these folks:
http://thomasrangermtours.com

For the record, I don't get any financial gain from either of these recommendations.

Happy hounding!

I have done some day hiking here but yet to have done any recent real backpacking. I bought a decent book that can answer questions like where to camp and what to expect on the trail: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156145415X/ref=ox_ya_os_product_refresh_T1
There are other books similar to this one out there I am sure.

You can pretty much camp where ever you want in the Wilderness and there is water everywhere there. You could defiantly wing it as far as hitting the trail and finding a campsite along the way.

Go on some group walks (http://www.nvabc.org/trips.htm http://www.loudounwildlife.org/Programs_and_Field_Trips.htm) and meet some other birders - they'll have some thoughts on places to visit and can tell you about other local resources.

Woodend has some great classes for example.

Ditto what LigoRider says - As for guides to birds, having a good field guide is key (iBird pro is good for an app, but book can be handy too). Sibley is the generally recommended book.

For learning, I think specific guides can be helpful. For example:

• Waterfowl
  
• Sparrows
  
• Hawks
  
  

Agreed. There is a great spot for some geodes less than an hour away. If anyone wants more information on rockhounding in CO, the book "Rockhounding Colorado" is a great source of information..

For me, Banff & area are all about hiking. But there's still tons of stuff do do & see without plodding along a trail all day. Thats just what I like to do all day. In fact, just driving the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93 North, to Jasper) is amazing, with lots of sightseeing opportunities, including the Columbia Icefields.

Get yourself a copy of Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies. It's a phenomenal hiking resource for the National Parks. My personal favourite is Helen Lake.

For many people this could be a coffee table book, its 100 backpacking trips in the National Parks across the county. Many of the hikes are long backpacking trips. Its a great book to start a bucket list.Backpacker: The National Parks Coast to Coast: 100 Best Hikes

Check out Rockhounding Oregon: A Guide to the State's Best Rockhounding Sites. It’s a great resource for agate hotspots on the coast.

I prefer Kaufman's field guide for carrying with me while I'm birding. It's well organized and has a lot of great info/illustrations:

http://www.amazon.com/Kaufman-Field-Guide-Birds-America/dp/0618574239/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382709486&sr=8-1&keywords=kaufman

At home, I like to use Sibley's book (which is far too large to carry with as a field guide). It has even more illustrations and is a bit more in depth than Kaufman's field guide due to its size:

http://www.amazon.com/Sibley-Guide-Birds-David-Allen/dp/0679451226/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382709539&sr=8-1&keywords=sibley+guide+to+birds

Thanks! This will be my first attempt at doing anything out in the field so I'm hugely excited about it, even if it will be slow going and clumsy. =)

Got any recommendations for field identification books? I've got the Dorling Kindersley and the Philips guides at the moment - but they seem a bit light on the details. Are there any "classic" field guides worth picking up?

I'm a professional mineralogist and I have that book at my desk, It's a pretty helpful guide sometimes. I also recommend Simon & Schuster's Guide to Rocks & Minerals and Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals

All of these are good suggestions, but they are very popular and likely to be busy. (By Canadian standards anyways). Visit Moraine Lake or Lake Louise for a taste of the Classics.
However, if you want out of the way, do the 3 and 4 star hikes in Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies.
http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Waste-Your-Canadian-Rockies/dp/0968941974

• Eternal Treblinka
  
  
• Bleating Hearts
  
  
• Eat Like You Care
  
  
• Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows
  

Learned some basic rocks/minerals as a kid - Quartz, Calcite, Tigereye, Agate, Pyrite, Malachite, Azurite, Labradorite, Granite, Conglomerate, Sandstone, Obsidian, Pumice, Fluorite, etc. I'd find some in my yard and collect them and look them up in some books I had or see them for sale in gift shops and got to know them this way.

Learned some more when I took Mineralogy and Petrology courses throughout my degree.

Learned even more by lurking this sub, seeing examples, and googling more info about ones I don't know about.

Some good resources include Simon and Schusters Guide, NPS, Mindat, etc. and if you're really serious about learning more, MIT offers free open courseware on Intro Geology and Petrology.

I would suggest renting a car while you are in the Rockies. You won't see much on the train, plus it's really expensive. And there are bus tours but they cater to the elderly and those less interested in lacing up boots. You really need to get off transport and hit some trails. If you are the hiking type, the guide book you want is this one:

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/0968941974

You don't need a car in Vancouver and you can bus it from Banff to Vancouver, so look into flying into Calgary and renting a car there for a week.

Also, make camping or hotel arrangements ASAP. They fill up fast. There are campgrounds you can drive into, they do tend to be a bit noisy, though. Smaller cabins or B and Bs are probably the nicest option. Expect up to $200 CA plus per night.

this book is a good general reference on all things rocks and minerals. the layout is simple to follow and the language is easy to understand (specialised knowledge not required).

Rocks and Minerals

it is a general guide so it probably wont cover every possible example but it is a good starting place.

I use my Grandfather’s binoculars, they’re an old model but they still have modern versions of it available.

http://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/jason-binoculars.html

This is a great book for beginners

https://www.amazon.com/Kaufman-Field-Guide-Birds-America/dp/0618574239

Could check out what the CORA meetup group has done in past summers: http://www.meetup.com/Calgary-Outdoor-Recreation-Association-CORA/

I use the book Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies. Peak-wise, I've done Cirque Peak and Fairview Mountain and both were great. Not sure if they're aggressive enough for you, though. :)

I would imagine there are books like this one...https://www.amazon.com/Rockhounding-New-York-Guide-States/dp/0762779004
I own the one for Oregon and it has given me some great info to start with. Also, take a look at local rock clubs.

http://www.amazon.com/Simon-Schusters-Guide-Rocks-Minerals/dp/0671244175/ref=zg_bs_290105_7

My favorite handbook. Some essential rockhound tools would be a rock hammer, chisel, hand loupe, etc.

Hawks in Flight by David Sibley. It's not a bird identification guide, but it's fantastic at teaching you about how to identify hawks (without pictures!).

https://www.amazon.com/Hawks-Flight-Second-David-Sibley/dp/0395709598

Young and Freedman is one of the more popular intro physics textbooks, but I think Knight's textbook is a little better for a first-timer, although it's not as complete.

For planning, I recommend this book. It's pricey, but worth it. It's not too helpful on the survival side of planning, but it'll help you pick out which trails to do and what to expect.

The end-all mineral book. Not ideal for field identification, but amazing for the information it does contain. It's the one reference book that I have kept around and used throughout my academic and professional career.

There are quite a few hiking trails in the Ouachitas suitable for overnight and multi-day backpacking trips. Tim Ernst's "Arkansas Hiking Trails" and "Ouachita Trail Guide" are good planning resources.

The Eagle Rock Loop is one I'd personally recommend. There is parking available at several trailheads.

Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!

Here are your smile-ified links:

this

---

^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly bot

Can you narrow the location down a bit? Canada is huge and there are great hikes all over.

For the National Parks in the Rockies, this is a great start: https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Waste-Your-Canadian-Rockies/dp/0968941974

Hit up MEC, get a guide book.

In my experience, Kananaskis was an easy area to start hiking in; lots of good hikes of varying difficulty, and almost all of them are accessible from one of two highways.

We've used this book over the years as a guide: http://www.amazon.ca/Where-Locals-Hike-Canadian-Rockies/dp/0973509945

Do invest in a set of topographical maps for the area you want to start hiking in though, along with a compass/GPS. It's well worth the investment when you take a wrong turn at the shady trail marker.

Get the book "Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies" You'll get to see the best and avoid the crowds. http://www.amazon.ca/Dont-Waste-Your-Canadian-Rockies/dp/0968941974

> Understanding what people listen to is crucial in effective communication.

Why do you assume I've done no research into effective activism? That's why I'm criticizing this video in the first place. It compromises its own message through apologetics which reinforce the perceived validity of the carnist norm instead of communicating an anti-speciesist message. In fact, there's plenty of evidence that door-in-the-face activism is effective at making new vegans, and that people who go vegan for the animals are less likely to renege and go back to eating meat.

• http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/15685306-12341544
  
  Promoting a clear vegan end goal is the best way to bring about both reduction and cessation of animal use and we should be careful not to promote the very thing (speciesism) that is the biggest contributor to our animal use in the first place.
  
  
• https://smile.amazon.com/Motivational-Methods-Vegan-Advocacy-Perspective-ebook/dp/B01BUPF9GS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517138811&sr=8-1&keywords=casey+taft&sa-no-redirect=1
  
  Further, advocating for mere reduction doesn’t change society’s view of non-human animals. Instead it reinforces the belief that animals are here for our use but that we just treasure it more when using and killing them. Reduction may work if we want people to take some minor and inconsequential action. But it doesn’t translate to what we are asking them to do in regard to their views and treatment of non-human animals.
  
  If we truly want to change society’s attitude about other animals, we need to show that we, as animal advocates, don’t endorse using them in any way. We need to educate the public about speciesism and actively work to abolish the speciesist lies that other animals are inferior to humans and are here for our use. In order to create a non-speciesist world, we need to call for a rejection of speciesist views and behaviors.
  
  
• https://sentience-politics.org/animal-advocates-focus-antispeciesism-not-veganism/
  
  

I have always really liked the thoroughness of the Knight textbook. It's very expensive though.


... eyes shift back and forth

Hey OP! I think you dropped a textbook. I see it there in your inbox.

Pick up a copy of Canadian Rockies Trail Guide by Brian Patton and Bart Robinson http://www.amazon.ca/Canadian-Rockies-Trail-Guide-Akamina-Kishinena/dp/0919934900
or Don't Waste Your Time in the Rockies by Kathy and Craig Copeland http://www.amazon.ca/Dont-Waste-Your-Canadian-Rockies/dp/0968941974

Both list and describe day and multiple overnight hikes, what makes them interesting etc etc and give plenty of suggestions for outside of Banff and Jasper.

http://www.herkimerdiamond.com is the only western-ish NY fee dig I'm aware of. This book has a list of rockhounding sites with appropriate maps/directions: https://www.amazon.com/Rockhounding-New-York-Guide-States/dp/0762779004?ie=UTF8&adid=02XDNXCXNHT0QN810XCY

here's another link that might help? http://albanykid.com/2010/05/24/rockhounding-new-york/

Complete Carpet Python :)

These are the two favorites of the ones I have.
http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Minerals-Gemstones-Walter-Schumann/dp/0395511372
http://www.amazon.com/Simon-Schusters-Guide-Rocks-Minerals/dp/0671244175

The complete carpet python for those who keep or are interested in carpets

Both of these books have strongly influenced my techniques with regards to risk management in the backcountry.

In the same vein as Not Without Peril is At the Mercy of the Mountains, by Peter Bronski, a similar book that focuses on misadventure in the Adirondacks iin NY (Howe's book focuses on the White Mountains of NH).

> I had a friend get busted and had to go to court for this.

Your friend could have been claim jumping. Many mineral locals have claims on them, and they can be transient in nature. So even though it seems that it is on public lands, and is ok, someone could have come along and filed a claim over that particular area.

In defense of the claim holder, it takes a lot of expense, time, and energy to dig a hole in the ground. And the claim holder needs to see a return on that money. In defense of the collector, some claim holders should not be filing claims on things that they should not, such as designated public collecting areas. There is one such jerk in my area that may want to haul my butt into court, which at that time we could discuss the validity of his claims in the first place.

That's the short version. What you need to do is buy a recent collecting guide such as this, that will get you started. Then, after that if you have a concern, you go to your local BLM office and ask for information about what claims have been filed in the area you plan on collecting in.

Edit: Also, I should mention that collecting is illegal in National Parks, and also on private property. But I have a hard time thinking that someone would get more than just a trespass citation aka misdemeanor and not hauled into court. Though digging on private property might be considered vandalism. You can ask your friend which of these it was. I don't try to collect in these areas, so maybe someone can chime in on this.

Edit2: If you destroy property in State Parks, then this also might happen.

So this is the general idea.

Apologists.

And I agree. You were being assertive, not aggressive. The book Motivational Methods for Vegan Advocacy: A Clinical Psychology Perspective argues that there is no evidence that compromising your message will be helpful in advocating on behalf of animals.

https://www.amazon.com/Rockhounding-New-York-Guide-States/dp/0762779004/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=fossil+guide+new+york&qid=1569523747&s=gateway&sr=8-3 Each state has its own guide...might want to try this

How about gem and mineral specimens?

one more

They are minerals Marie!

Ce vrei tu e un ghid pentru identificarea de minerale nu de pietre. Rocile sunt agregate de minerale, simplist vorbind.

Asta arata decent. Sunt multe carti cu multe poze colorate prin comert, dar sunt pline de info vagi sau pur si simplu gresite. Stai departe de cele in Romana, sunt traduse prost.

Daca te pasioneaza, si vrei sa stii mai mult de atat, recomand orice manual de mineralogie.

http://www.amazon.com/Physics-Scientists-Engineers-Strategic-MasteringPhysics/sim/0321513339/2

I carry a Kaufman personally.

Arkansas Waterfalls Guidebook by Tim Ernst

Planning on going to Joyce Kilmer/Citico for the first time in October.

If you don't already have it, you should get this guide book.

Since it will be my first time backpacking there, I look forward to any replies you might get from someone who has experience with the area too.

This one.

At my old school, we used this but after a quick Google search I found this other one. I don't know if these are exactly what you are looking for, though.