Dog Days, Raven Nights

by John M. Marzluff, Colleen Marzluff, Bernd Heinrich (Foreword)

The coauthor of the award-winning In the Company of Crows and Ravens and his wife, an animal-behavior expert, offer an engaging account of their days as young field biologists in Maine

Twenty years ago, fresh out of graduate school and recently married, John and Colleen Marzluff left Arizona for a small cabin in the mountains of western Maine. Their to conduct the first-ever extensive study of the winter ecology of the Common Raven under the tutelage of biologist Bernd Heinrich. Drawing on field notes and personal diaries, they vividly and eloquently chronicle their three-year endeavor to research a mysterious and often misunderstood bird—assembling a gigantic aviary, climbing sentry trees, building bird blinds in the forest, capturing and sustaining 300 ravens as study subjects, and enduring harsh Maine winters in pursuit of their goal. They also shared the unique challenges and joys of raising, training, and racing the sled dogs that assisted them in their work. Accompanied by Evon Zerbetz's lovely linocut illustrations, Dog Days, Raven Nights is a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at the adventures of field science and an insightful exploration of the nature of relationships, both animal and human.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Animals, Birds, Nature, Biography, Environment

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

John M. Marzluff is professor of environmental and forest sciences at the University of Washington and is the author or coauthor of several books, including In the Company of Crows and Ravens; Dog Days, Raven Nights; and Welcome to Subirdia.

Reviews

[Evon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, this is an entirely biased review! When I was illustrating the book I had to skim at times; and recently sat down and read the book cover to cover again. I am struck by the same thing: how well John and Colleen's voices meld together in the book. They hand-off the writer's pencil seamlessly through each chapter. The natural history section at the end has juicy notes on both dogs and ravens, and even the footnotes are entertaining.

[Two Readers in Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this alternate-entry journal made us feel we were in the Maine woods researching ravens and mushing dogs. The beautiful linocut illustrations are a bonus. The book and end-notes are and engaging mix of hard science and memoir; the authors do not shy away from the realities of postdoctoral life.

This book would be the perfect gift for a college student contemplating graduate work in biology, or for anyone interested in both canines and corvids.

[Dj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have a great interest in the study of crows and ravens. Found this volume to be an excellent read.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed the research findings about raven communication and raven communities. I enjoyed the references to the challenges of spending hours at a stretch in treetops, or in blinds shared with mice and weasels, which gave me a feel for what field research is like. I was not quite so interested in the more personal aspects of the book, which at times seemed to predominate. The repeated references to how marvelous the people of Maine are, and how difficult it is to work in the academic environment under egotistical autocrats was off-putting. But then, I wasn't expecting an autobiography. That was my mistake.

[Moni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun and interesting read. The deep dive into raven behavior and field practices was detailed without being overly technical. Sometimes the descriptions of Maine’s culture and people seemed to drag on with flowery language and imperfect metaphors, but that’s mostly personal preference. Descriptions of the dogs and their individual personalities was amusing and fit well with the ‘raven nights’ for the most part. I appreciated the illustrations and the chronology included at the end, which nicely tied together the novel. (Accidentally posted this on a second listing for the book, whoops)

[Tim Kordas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting book about young researchers moving to rural Maine to study the behavior of ravens. While living in Maine they become interested in Siberian Huskies, and the sport of dogsledding.

Some of the material talks about the relationship between post-doc and PI, and the travails of academic job searches.

Overall this was well worth reading, the description of outsiders fitting into Maine, raven research, and novice dogsledding combine to form a compelling story.

[Cheryl Chapman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up on this half way through. I prefer novels and I this just didn't hold my interest - too much research info for me.

[Lizzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember reading about this study in one of my textbooks for an animal behavior course. When the professor mentioned the study, everyone, including him, laughed at the idea of lugging carcasses around snowy Maine. It seemed so preposterous and surreal an image. Later, I stumbled upon this book in the library, and was amazed at how well-presented the authors made their work. It felt like I was actually reading their field reports and diaries- they explained their science well, making it seem hard, somewhat disgusting, but worthwhile and interesting, and their lifestyle, which seemed to have similar attributes. There was so much going on -stories about the animals, about field research, about science politics, about sled racing, and rural lifestyles- all handled beautifully. I was surprised at how eloquently two scientists wrote :), but their tones meshed well together (it probably helps they're married). Anyways, John Marzluff is a professor at my university, so I might have to see if he offers any classes I could take!

[Sylvia Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has Maine, ravens and the two young post-docs studying them, sled dogs and the same couple training and racing them, an account told twenty years later, drawn from field notes and diaries. We get two perspectives, John Marzluff's, and his wife's, Colleen Marzluff. The book is physically beautiful, thanks to the gorgeous linocut illustrations of Evon Zerbetz. It was illuminating to see the planning, hard work and dedication that are behind a three year study of raven social interactions. Lots of humor... I now know that I wouldn't especially enjoy raising 10 or 20 of them from nestlings, given their diet (dead animals) and the resulting smelly and copious excretions. Lots about Mainers, too, and their ready friendship and willingness to help with difficult jobs. A really fun and interesting story.

[Deborah Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a journal of the time the Marzluff's spent in Maine monitoring ravens. They built an aviary, and spent most of their time in freezing cold observing their social structures. Also much time dragging cow, moose and deer carcasses around for them ravens to eat.

In their spare time, they were raising and training sled dogs to race.

A very interesting life, which made me appreciated that my biologist husband and bird lover, never got field assignments. This would not have been the life for me.

[Linda Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author and his wife spent 3 years in Maine, studying ravens, and learning to race sled dogs as a hobby. I enjoyed knowing the areas they mention in the book, and reading about their research project and results. The last 3rd of the book got as little dry for my taste, as it involved less of their personal stories, but I would recommend this to anyone interested in Maine, sled dogs, ravens and/or research testing methods.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This retrospective of a raven study from the viewpoint of "this was our life while we did it" had its interesting moments. But overall, the book was slow reading. I feel I learned a little bit about the "sled dog community" in Maine and Idaho, a fair amount about conducting raven research in Maine (and the pain points involved in post-doc research), life in a Maine community, and the challenges of making career choices. The drawings were probably the best part of the book.

[Don Kent · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is only a moderately interesting book if you are interested in the ecology and natural history of Ravens. Lots of info on the social problems of Maine and post-doctoral scrambling for grants and funding and too much about sled dog problems.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The two stars are just for the lovely linocut illustrations. A book with an interesting premise - an account of their research into raven behaviour, also looking at the development of their marriage, relationship with their mentor and hobby of dogsledding singularly fails to be engaging.

[Art]

This man and his wife studied ravens in Maine with Bernd Heinrich. I read Bernd's foreward to this book.

[stellajames]

Just starting. Looks to be a FANTASTIC read.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I love reading about ravens and sled dogs, the best part of this book was its layout, photos and lovely woodcut illustrations by Evon.... The text was not as captivating for me.