Becoming a Tiger: The Education of an Animal Child

From the co-author of the New York Times bestseller When Elephants Weep comes a book that uses true stories backed by scientific research to explore the way young animals discover their worlds and learn how to survive.How does a baby animal figure out how to get around in the world? How much of what animals know is instinctive, and how much must they learn?In Becoming a Tiger, bestselling author Susan McCarthy addresses these intriguing matters, presenting fascinating and funny examples of animal behaviour in the laboratory and in the wild. McCarthy shows us how baby animals transform themselves from clueless kittens, clumsy cubs, or scrawny chicks into efficient predators, successful foragers, or deft nestbuilders. From geese to mice, dolphins to orangutans, bats to (of course) tigers, McCarthy's warm, amusing, and insightful examinations of animal life and developments provides a surprising window into the mental worlds of our fine fuzzy, furred, finned, and feathered friends.oReaders will be fascinated by a close look at animal intelligence, learning, and family life. Contrary to common belief, not everything is "hardwired"--Or instinctual--in the animal kingdom. Many skills a wild animal needs to thrive, to grow, to be what nature intended, must be developed through play, painstaking teaching, and often treacherous trial and error. The coming-of-age processes of the myriad creatures of plain, forest, ocean, and jungle are truly fascinating natural events. In this book, McCarthy offers readers an in-depth look into the ways baby animals learn not only about themselves, but about their world and ours--and how to survive in both. Based on extensive scientific research done in the lab, in controlled "natural" settings, as well as in the wild, her findings provide new insights into the lives and development of Earth's nonhuman inhabitants--not only tigers, but lions, bears, bats, rats, birds, dolphins, whales, apes, elephants, and dozens of other species.--From publisher description AN EXPERIMENTAL PROCESS of trial and error persuaded the young bald eagle that at least one perching place wasn't for him.