Field naturalists have observed the activities of weasels for centuries. Their descriptions were often accurate but sometimes misinterpreted the animals' behaviors and underlying explanations for those behaviors. "Organized natural history" became one of the roots of the science of ecology in the 1920s and by the 1960s scientists had begun to study the biology of weasels with all the critical, objective advantages of modern theory and equipment. Until the first edition of this book appeared in 1989 no one had attempted to explain these results to non-specialist naturalists. Now thoroughly...

What main factors affect mammalian home-range and dynamics? To what extent do constraints on home range characteristics vary between the sexes? This book aims to address these issues by concentrating the authors' expertise and experience in studies of home ranges in general and focusing on their studies of the black bears of the Pisgah Forest, North Carolina, in particular. The authors provide an overview of black bears and methods for their study before discussing concepts of home range, developing predictive habitat quality models, addressing influences of food production on social...

Field naturalists have observed the activities of weasels for centuries. Their descriptions were often accurate but sometimes misinterpreted the animals' behaviors and underlying explanations for those behaviors. "Organized natural history" became one of the roots of the science of ecology in the 1920s and by the 1960s scientists had begun to study the biology of weasels with all the critical, objective advantages of modern theory and equipment. Until the first edition of this book appeared in 1989 no one had attempted to explain these results to non-specialist naturalists. Now thoroughly...