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Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations
A born naturalist and a fearless traveler, Vladimir Dinets wrote travel guides, conducted field research, and lived a couple of lives before he was accepted into the PhD program in zoology at the University of Miami. He thought crocodiles were a dead-end research topic—survivors from the age of the dinosaurs but not much else—until he witnessed groups of up to seventy alligators performing mating choruses that included infrasound vibrations—a form of communication extremely rare in nature—and a “dance” unknown in the scientific literature but that resembled a scene from Jurassic Park . To prove his thesis about the language of crocodiles, he spent the next six years traveling around the world on shoestring budgets and in extreme circumstances, studying almost every living species. At the same time, as a man desiring companionship in life, he sought love.
With adventures on five continents, Dragon Songs is his account of this quest. It includes an escape from a boiling lava lake in the Afar Desert, being chased up a tree by a tiger in India, hitching a ride with a cocaine smuggler in Bolivia, and diving with giant Greenland sharks—all in the name of studying crocodiles, among which he routinely paddled in his inflatable kayak. Of course, not everything went according to plan. But, in the end, his ground-breaking research helped change the field. And during the course of his adventures, he met and courted his future wife.
With adventures on five continents, Dragon Songs is his account of this quest. It includes an escape from a boiling lava lake in the Afar Desert, being chased up a tree by a tiger in India, hitching a ride with a cocaine smuggler in Bolivia, and diving with giant Greenland sharks—all in the name of studying crocodiles, among which he routinely paddled in his inflatable kayak. Of course, not everything went according to plan. But, in the end, his ground-breaking research helped change the field. And during the course of his adventures, he met and courted his future wife.
338 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2013
13 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 16, 2017
Rarely do you find a person of exceptional talent with the opportunities and drive to bring his dreams to reality... Vladimir Dinets is such a person.
This book is supposed to be a summary of his research into the communication methods of alligators and crocodiles.
In reality, it is a description of a journey to the most remote areas of most countries in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world in his search for these reptiles.
It is a story published in 2013 that takes you into the real world of these nations and gives you a much more realistic understanding of the world today than you would get from any news report, traveler or tourist. For example, he describes why Ethiopia is even more difficult to travel in than Tibet or Afghanistan because of the lack of cultural change brought about by the internet. In each country that he enters, he provides you with an understanding of how to cope successfully with every adverse circumstance. He also makes observations about the economic and social changes that have occurred in a few years as a result of different government decisions, some good and some bad.
It is a story of limited funds, inadequate transportation, corrupt border guards and policemen, extreme weather conditions, dangerous sleeping arrangements, medical emergencies, and more discomfort and pain that most people would be willing to endure in a lifetime and then returning to live in his office without a shower because he could not afford an apartment.
But it is also a story of a man who is so comfortable in the human race that he can win the trust of drug dealers, strangers with widely different cultures and political views, aboriginal people serving human flesh at a mandatory meal, young women giving birth alone, prostitutes, national park rangers trying to sell him endangered protected species, tourist facilities operators, truck drivers while finding the food, shelter, transportation and information on the location and habits of the reptiles that he needed. It is the story of danger and threats to him including arrest and incarceration, on one occasion being given the choice of an AK47 or a machete to duel with a South American police officer over the honor of a woman.
He completes his search while maintaining a positive optimistic attitude, never allowing even the feeling of discouragement to appear. He is not critical or judgmental of the actions of others but seems to treat everyone with respect and love that they seem to be aware of. This seems to be his secret for the amazing generosity and cooperation that he received almost everywhere he went, from hitchhiking plane rides with drug dealers to acknowledging the political views of others as a non-Communist Russian citizen obtaining a PhD at an American university.
He loves the natural world and is comfortable in it. It was not strange to him to sleep in a tent in the jungle where there were predatory animals including lions and leopards or to stand neck deep in water watching a 20 foot alligator (no exaggeration-- there are species which do grow to this size) He slept in his car many nights, endured numerous insect and animal bites, ran out of food, got caught in swamps with no way out but hours of determined slogging through mud, caught malaria, drove in sand storms with a sick guide and had to rely on his own navigation to get out of the desert... there seemed to be several of these problems in each new country that he entered.
His compassion for animals caused him, despite his limited funds, to buy some land from a South American rancher in order to save one species of animal. Now, after earning his PhD, he is working to save whooping crane habitats.
His photography is amazing. His knowledge of the natural world is extensive. In fact, he saw two rare species that had never before been reported in the wild. He was the first to report on the group hunting of alligators, with one alligator driving prey into an ambush set up by other alligators, and then joining them for the "meal". He was the first to distinguish between and analyze the different calls and infrasonic communication patterns of alligators and crocodiles around the world, and one of the few to ever observe mother alligators feeding their own one-year babies, showing that reptiles can look after their young after hatching. He was also the first to report on alligators using lures to bring prey closer, floating sticks on their snouts at nesting season to draw birds to them.
Vladimir Dinets is brilliant but modest, determined and motivated.
From an ecological viewpoint, this book is inspirational.
From an informational viewpoint, this book should be read by anyone traveling anywhere in the tropics and subtropics. You will be much better prepared than you would be by any tourist agency, government embassy, or news or travel report.
From a travel viewpoint, it is worth reading this book just for his methods of saving money in both domestic and international travel.
For recreational reading, it is a pleasant afternoon well spent.
For information about the world of crocodiles and alligators, there is no better.
If you think that I am biased in this review, I would like to add that my husband and I are not really interested in any of the reptilian wildlife in subtropical and tropical regions... or even in our back yard :) We prefer wolves to pythons and black bears to alligators. :) But you cannot help but admire these creatures after reading this book.
This book is supposed to be a summary of his research into the communication methods of alligators and crocodiles.
In reality, it is a description of a journey to the most remote areas of most countries in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world in his search for these reptiles.
It is a story published in 2013 that takes you into the real world of these nations and gives you a much more realistic understanding of the world today than you would get from any news report, traveler or tourist. For example, he describes why Ethiopia is even more difficult to travel in than Tibet or Afghanistan because of the lack of cultural change brought about by the internet. In each country that he enters, he provides you with an understanding of how to cope successfully with every adverse circumstance. He also makes observations about the economic and social changes that have occurred in a few years as a result of different government decisions, some good and some bad.
It is a story of limited funds, inadequate transportation, corrupt border guards and policemen, extreme weather conditions, dangerous sleeping arrangements, medical emergencies, and more discomfort and pain that most people would be willing to endure in a lifetime and then returning to live in his office without a shower because he could not afford an apartment.
But it is also a story of a man who is so comfortable in the human race that he can win the trust of drug dealers, strangers with widely different cultures and political views, aboriginal people serving human flesh at a mandatory meal, young women giving birth alone, prostitutes, national park rangers trying to sell him endangered protected species, tourist facilities operators, truck drivers while finding the food, shelter, transportation and information on the location and habits of the reptiles that he needed. It is the story of danger and threats to him including arrest and incarceration, on one occasion being given the choice of an AK47 or a machete to duel with a South American police officer over the honor of a woman.
He completes his search while maintaining a positive optimistic attitude, never allowing even the feeling of discouragement to appear. He is not critical or judgmental of the actions of others but seems to treat everyone with respect and love that they seem to be aware of. This seems to be his secret for the amazing generosity and cooperation that he received almost everywhere he went, from hitchhiking plane rides with drug dealers to acknowledging the political views of others as a non-Communist Russian citizen obtaining a PhD at an American university.
He loves the natural world and is comfortable in it. It was not strange to him to sleep in a tent in the jungle where there were predatory animals including lions and leopards or to stand neck deep in water watching a 20 foot alligator (no exaggeration-- there are species which do grow to this size) He slept in his car many nights, endured numerous insect and animal bites, ran out of food, got caught in swamps with no way out but hours of determined slogging through mud, caught malaria, drove in sand storms with a sick guide and had to rely on his own navigation to get out of the desert... there seemed to be several of these problems in each new country that he entered.
His compassion for animals caused him, despite his limited funds, to buy some land from a South American rancher in order to save one species of animal. Now, after earning his PhD, he is working to save whooping crane habitats.
His photography is amazing. His knowledge of the natural world is extensive. In fact, he saw two rare species that had never before been reported in the wild. He was the first to report on the group hunting of alligators, with one alligator driving prey into an ambush set up by other alligators, and then joining them for the "meal". He was the first to distinguish between and analyze the different calls and infrasonic communication patterns of alligators and crocodiles around the world, and one of the few to ever observe mother alligators feeding their own one-year babies, showing that reptiles can look after their young after hatching. He was also the first to report on alligators using lures to bring prey closer, floating sticks on their snouts at nesting season to draw birds to them.
Vladimir Dinets is brilliant but modest, determined and motivated.
From an ecological viewpoint, this book is inspirational.
From an informational viewpoint, this book should be read by anyone traveling anywhere in the tropics and subtropics. You will be much better prepared than you would be by any tourist agency, government embassy, or news or travel report.
From a travel viewpoint, it is worth reading this book just for his methods of saving money in both domestic and international travel.
For recreational reading, it is a pleasant afternoon well spent.
For information about the world of crocodiles and alligators, there is no better.
If you think that I am biased in this review, I would like to add that my husband and I are not really interested in any of the reptilian wildlife in subtropical and tropical regions... or even in our back yard :) We prefer wolves to pythons and black bears to alligators. :) But you cannot help but admire these creatures after reading this book.
July 5, 2015
The crocodilian parts of this book were really interesting, and I looked forward to the author solving the mysteries of his thesis. The insets and observations about the women that he dated while doing his research were weirdly disjunctive. While I generally appreciate woven stories discussing a journey or travel over years, I think this was trying to be two different books. Tighter editing might have pulled it together, but I think he either needed more or less detail about his personal life, not just enough to seem to distract from the story about science and field research he was telling. Still, before reading this I didn't have any idea that crocodiles produced infrasound, nor what their signaling behaviours towards each other were.
Read
July 19, 2024(read 1/2 only) funny and entertaining, this book documents the exploits and daring adventures of crocodilian researcher, Dr. Vladimir Dinets, in his quest to explore the behavior of crocodilians that 'sing' or bellow during mating season, vibrating and emitting infrared sounds to secure mates. The author has a knack for traveling on a barebones budget, hitchhiking and befriending locals. He uses creative solutions to survive, such as covering his belongings with banana leaves during a downpour that hit his kayak while on the river, scrambling up a tree when a tiger spots him, riding the plane of a cocaine smuggler who was using while in the skies, hitchhiking on cargo ships, and more. In this book, he has been in fascinating places that are off the beaten track of regular tourists, such as the 'Death Road' in the Andes Pass, the Altiplano, the Russian tundra, and more. He has traveled and monitored the behavior of local crocodilians, from the gharials of India to the Chinese crocodile to the black caimans of the Amazon. This is an interesting book on an adventurous life through shoestring means if necessary. It's also written in an informal way, kind of reminiscent of blog posts I thought, not usual for scientific memoirs; it turns out later that he is a popular blogger in Russian language cybersphere.
June 18, 2014
This book follows Mr. Dinets as he attempts to research and write his thesis on crocodile, alligator, and gharial communication. I found the book interesting, although it was more about Mr. Dinets exploits (and women in ever port...) than about the differences in the species. I wish it was more about the animals, especially the gharials and dwarf crocs that we never hear about. It was a bit boring when the only discussion was on head slapping and water body sizes, with no real academic research included. In the end, I lost interest in the book and never finished... so, Meh. Two stars for me but because it did have a nice photo insert so I bumped up to three stars.
October 3, 2023
Interesting read for sure. Only about a third of the book is really about crocodilians though; the other two thirds is a combination of bizarre travel stories and the author's dating life. Lots of minor details that were largely irrelevant.
March 20, 2014
3.5
This was well written and fairly interesting. It got a little repetitious and slow toward the end.
This was well written and fairly interesting. It got a little repetitious and slow toward the end.
November 22, 2018
A fabulous book of the author's travels to observe the natural history of the world. The locations visited and the flora and fauna described are enough to make one think of the book as an atlas of the natural world (although there is no index). At the same time, the book flows quickly, presenting anecdote after anecdote, often humorous.
Born in Russia and developing an interest in the natural world early, the book largely covers the years he spent studying crocodilians and working toward a PhD from the University of Miami in 2011. Dinets research was of their mating habits which feature both headslaps for attracting attention in larger bodies of water and roars, more common in smaller lakes. The roars are varied, in some cases being little more than coughs, but include infrasonic vibrations.
Dinets is a shoestring traveller and his efforts to reach various locations and see specific animals are amazing and inspiring.
Born in Russia and developing an interest in the natural world early, the book largely covers the years he spent studying crocodilians and working toward a PhD from the University of Miami in 2011. Dinets research was of their mating habits which feature both headslaps for attracting attention in larger bodies of water and roars, more common in smaller lakes. The roars are varied, in some cases being little more than coughs, but include infrasonic vibrations.
Dinets is a shoestring traveller and his efforts to reach various locations and see specific animals are amazing and inspiring.
May 24, 2019
An exciting adventure story. Dinets shows a lot of humanity and compassion for animals that are clearly more than simple research subjects to him. Dinets tracks down crocodilians the world over to study fascinating behaviors that will surprise most casual observers of the often misunderstood reptiles.
December 24, 2022
Weird book
The parts about wildlife were fascinating, parts of the travelogue were very interesting, but there were repeated bits that were sexist and racist, and a whole bunch of tossed off pieces of information that were beyond belief (he flew airplanes without a license? He ate human meat? Come on!). Honestly surprised this guy has a university job.
The parts about wildlife were fascinating, parts of the travelogue were very interesting, but there were repeated bits that were sexist and racist, and a whole bunch of tossed off pieces of information that were beyond belief (he flew airplanes without a license? He ate human meat? Come on!). Honestly surprised this guy has a university job.
January 25, 2018
Must read for anyone with consideration for entering wildlife biology, or a field research career. Does an amazing job of showing this lifestyle and its highs and lows from the perspective of a seasoned researcher. Beautifully written and very hard to put down.
October 29, 2019
A fantastic look into the world of crocodilians and their behavior. But it's not only about crocs and their ilk, but the author shares many other experiences and facts about all kinds of animals. It felt like traveling with him all over the world.
July 21, 2018
Honey, did you know saltwater crocs can be 20 feet long?
July 2, 2023
This book was so disappointing. It had so much extra fluff and it felt so anticlimactic. It felt like it barely focused on the crocs and gators. And it was so much longer than it should’ve been.
May 13, 2015
"Fearless traveler" perfectly describes Vladimir Dinets. I don't think I've ever read a travel writer who could more dryly describe experiences like using smugglers as transportation. That's not a complaint, either; his understated approach to danger was delightfully refreshing in a literary world currently filled with braggodocio and posturing.
In fact, I only realized how jaded I'd become with adventure writing when I initially disbelieved Dinets' story about the tiger attack. But he did indeed have pictures to prove it and that won me over for the rest of the book.
The research into his work with crocodiles is extremely interesting to herpetology enthusiasts. If I have a complaint about the book, it's that the thorough recounting of every crocodile species observed does start to sag narratively towards the end of the book. I understand that it's good science and that Dinets is a good scientist. For narrative, though, it loses some energy.
Nevertheless, Dragon Songs is a fun and interesting book filled with Russian stoicism in the face of adversity that would break lesser geeks such as myself and lots and lots of talking about crocodiles. I deeply enjoyed it!
In fact, I only realized how jaded I'd become with adventure writing when I initially disbelieved Dinets' story about the tiger attack. But he did indeed have pictures to prove it and that won me over for the rest of the book.
The research into his work with crocodiles is extremely interesting to herpetology enthusiasts. If I have a complaint about the book, it's that the thorough recounting of every crocodile species observed does start to sag narratively towards the end of the book. I understand that it's good science and that Dinets is a good scientist. For narrative, though, it loses some energy.
Nevertheless, Dragon Songs is a fun and interesting book filled with Russian stoicism in the face of adversity that would break lesser geeks such as myself and lots and lots of talking about crocodiles. I deeply enjoyed it!
February 27, 2025
An excellent book about adventure while doing scientific research. Vladimir Dinets studies alligators, crocodiles, caimans, gharials, etc. To accomplish this, his studies have taken him all over the world and luckily we're along for the ride. We go with Vladimir to the swamps of Florida to observe American alligators, to Africa to do research on various elusive species and that always intimidating Nile crocodile. In Australia, we look for Saltwater crocodiles. In South America, it's caimans. And Asia holds some interesting samples of crocodiles as well. And we're there for all of it.
Along the way, Vladimir describes the countries he visits in fascinating detail. If you like travel books and crocs, this is the book for you. I won't pretend that I understand all of his research, but it's extremely interesting. Vladimir also finds love as he scours the globe for his research material.
An excellent edition for the armchair traveler and those interested in the world of crocodilians.
Along the way, Vladimir describes the countries he visits in fascinating detail. If you like travel books and crocs, this is the book for you. I won't pretend that I understand all of his research, but it's extremely interesting. Vladimir also finds love as he scours the globe for his research material.
An excellent edition for the armchair traveler and those interested in the world of crocodilians.
March 27, 2014
As close to an adventure novel as non-fiction can get. The storyline follows the author's study of crocodiles and their amazing behavior. Recently some of his findings have been all over the news, and after reading the book I feel like an insider to his research. Plenty of humor (a bit dark for my taste sometimes), unexpected plot twists and even a beautiful love story. Also fascinating descriptions of animals and places you never get to read about.
September 24, 2014
Really enjoyed it. It really inspired my wanderlust and sense of adventure.
April 3, 2014
Too much personal narrative, too little science
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews