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A review by heatherj726
Cat Tale: The Wild, Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther by Craig Pittman
4.0
Cat Tale is the true tale of the attempts made to save the Florida Panther. Pittman's non-fiction writing reads novel like. He has a good flow in this book and does a nice job balancing plot aspects with scientific aspects. Pittman also does a great job leaving science heavy data out of the book which would have turned Cat Tale into a textbook instead of the wonderful (although ridiculous) journey that it is.
In the 1990's the Florida Panther became an endangered species due hunting and habitat destruction. The idea to save the panther was much needed. The scientists/advocates hired to conduct the initial investigations did so for a multitude of reasons: to assist in the human expansion, continue hunting large animals, to save the species, etc. The people involved were all very passionate about this project. The science involved in saving the species, not done so greatly. It turns out the big panther guru had been flubbing data points, panther sighting locations, etc. to show the results that he wanted to see as opposed to the real results regarding the panthers. Eventually his results and published results were scrutinized and real data was collected.
I thoroughly enjoyed Cat Tale. As an animal lover I cringed through the majority of this book. The animal abuse, lack of scientific accuracy, and amount of hunting tales did not necessarily strike my fancy. I know that in order to get to the saving of the panther we have to relieve the horror they endured. Pittman made the tough portions of this story bearable with his humor and sarcasm. The only thing I think this book was missing was a map at the beginning of the book. Many of the Florida highways and waterways were mentioned throughout the story and map would have been helpful in visualizing the panther's journey.
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy non-fiction, want to hear a wild true story, enjoy panthers, or want to know more about how endangered species are saved.
In the 1990's the Florida Panther became an endangered species due hunting and habitat destruction. The idea to save the panther was much needed. The scientists/advocates hired to conduct the initial investigations did so for a multitude of reasons: to assist in the human expansion, continue hunting large animals, to save the species, etc. The people involved were all very passionate about this project. The science involved in saving the species, not done so greatly. It turns out the big panther guru had been flubbing data points, panther sighting locations, etc. to show the results that he wanted to see as opposed to the real results regarding the panthers. Eventually his results and published results were scrutinized and real data was collected.
I thoroughly enjoyed Cat Tale. As an animal lover I cringed through the majority of this book. The animal abuse, lack of scientific accuracy, and amount of hunting tales did not necessarily strike my fancy. I know that in order to get to the saving of the panther we have to relieve the horror they endured. Pittman made the tough portions of this story bearable with his humor and sarcasm. The only thing I think this book was missing was a map at the beginning of the book. Many of the Florida highways and waterways were mentioned throughout the story and map would have been helpful in visualizing the panther's journey.
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy non-fiction, want to hear a wild true story, enjoy panthers, or want to know more about how endangered species are saved.