"When wild animals like gorillas
find fruit or plants that are not
yet ready to be eaten, they can
use their spatial memory to return
to them later, when the fruit or
plants are ripe and juicy."
In her introduction, Dana Church tells readers that she spent a summer working with bumble bees. Her job was to catch and watch them in an enclosed space. The bees were too busy to bother her at all while she was doing her research. One experiment involved fake flowers and water mixed with sugar. It had no scent.
"... the only way the bees could find the nectar-filled flowers was by memorizing their locations. Well, the bumble bees figured this out fast. Their memories were impressive."
That job, with a professor who studied animal cognition, led Ms. Church to study that same subject and led to her writing this 14th book in the Orca Wild series. It is amazing how much she has to offer readers. Four chapters focus on personality, memory, counting, and puzzle solving. The information is shared in conversational text that encourages readers to think, understand and find answers to their questions. As with most of the terrific nonfiction published by Orca. there are carefully captioned and appealing photographs, charts, idea boxes, study results, and Smart Thinking text boxes.
Scientist Spotlights focus on specific scientists who work with animals and study particular traits. Each is asked three questions that focus on their work; the third concerns advice to kids who are interested in their field of study. A captioned photo of each is welcome.
Back matter includes a glossary, a list of print and online resources, acknowledgements, and an index.
This is an excellent addition to the series, and will certainly find an audience.
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