The Red Hourglass: Lives of the Predators

by Gordon Grice

Snake venom that digests human flesh. A building cleared of every living thing by a band of tiny spiders. An infant insect eating its living prey from within, saving the vital organs for last. These are among the deadly feats of natural engineering you'll witness in The Red Hourglass, prize-winning author Gordon Grice's masterful, poetic, often dryly funny exploration of predators he has encountered around his rural Oklahoma home.

Grice is a witty and intrepid guide through a world where mating ends in cannibalism, where killers possess toxins so lethal as to defy our ideas of a benevolent God, where spider remains, scattered like "the cast-off coats of untidy children," tell a quiet story of violent self-extermination. It's a world you'll recognize despite its exotic strangeness--the world in which we live. Unabashedly stepping into the mix, Grice abandons his role as objective observer with beguiling dark humor--collecting spiders and other vermin, decorating a tarantula's terrarium with dollhouse furniture, or forcing a battle between captive insects because he deems one "too stupid to live."

Kill. Eat. Mate. Die. Charting the simple brutality of the lives of these predators, Grice's starkly graceful essays guide us toward startling truths about our own predatory nature. The Red Hourglass brings us face to fanged face with the inadequacy of our distinctions between normal and abnormal, dead and alive, innocent and evil.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Nature, Animals, Biology, Natural History, Wildlife

259 pages, Hardcover

First published March 9, 1998

About the author

Gordon Grice has written about the dark corners of biology for The New Yorker (where he tackled the history of post-mortem dissections), Harper’s (black widow spiders), and Discover (leprosy). His books include The Red Hourglass: Lives of the Predators and Deadly Kingdom (paperback: The Book of Deadly Animals). His other projects include National Geographic’s eBook short Shark Attacks: Inside the Mind of the Ocean’s Most Terrifying Predator and more than a dozen horror stories in magazines, including the Best of the ‘Net winner “The White Cat” and the Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror runner-up “Hide.”

Reviews

[Aditi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains some interesting information, and also a lot of stories and opinions that did not interest me. The author is not a scientist (but an English professor), and this is not exactly a work of popular science, but somewhat a diary of his observations and thoughts.

While the chapter on the black widow was very fascinating, most others had problematic elements:

1. In "Canid", he talks of the Indian dog of the street called "Dhole" which he says does not belong to any particular breed and hunts deer. This is highly inaccurate. "Dhole" (Cuon alpinus) is Asiatic/Indian Wild Dog, that does not live in the streets, but in the forests. It hunts deer as well as tigers sometimes.
In contrast, the dog of the street is actually fed by humans. usually, these dogs are pets of the poor, who feed them, but can't really keep them.
This makes me skeptical about his other accounts. This information was not very hard to find, a simple google search gives you the right information. But if I am supposed to google everything, then there's no point reading the book really.

2. When he describes the interaction of some insect that he calls "cricket beast" with a mantid in a jar, he says he never found the insect in any book, he does not know the name, and neither does he present a photograph. This is bad science. He tells us several times that he does not believe other peoples' stories, but we are expected to believe him.

3. "Rattlesnakes": Most of this chapter is about how horrific and terrible rattlesnakes are and how to kill them. No information is provided about their ecological usefulness. There are numerous accounts detailing the hunting of these snakes (including a few by the author himself, although for purposes of protection) and also a long description of a "Rattlesnake Round-up/Rodeo" (these are events in Southern United States where thousands of snakes are captured, displayed and killed in a single day in front of a large audience). He fails to mention that as a result of such hunting, a lot of the species are threatened. The tone of these hunting sections is almost celebratory and he seems to suggest that the world will be a much better place if the rattlers would go extinct. Again, bad science.


The other troubling aspect was the random gender assignments. Sometimes the assignments make sense like for the Black Widow in her web or the mantid female, but then she always seems to prey upon the males of other species (Why?). The wolf spider is a female and tarantula is a male. Crocodiles, Dinosaurs and dogs are males. Am I supposed to take the gender seriously, or is it just an artifact of sexism? This random assignment is just scientifically inaccurate and culturally sexist.

The chapter on the widow is the only interesting part of the book, and that too excludes the male widow completely (except when he appears to mate). I would have liked some information on him too.

[Charles Dee Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gordon Grice grew up in rural Oklahoma in the 1960’s and 70’s. And he grew up loving insects and snakes. Although maybe you don’t actually love insects and snakes. He grew up fascinated by insects and snakes and that part of the animal kingdom most of us prefer not to think about.

There are seven chapters in The Red Hourglass, Lives of the Predators. Each chapter is a foray in the behavior of one species or class of predatory animal. Readers will find Grice’s personal experiences with these unpleasant creatures either fascinating or appalling. After reading his very detailed chapter on black widow spiders, I now have a more sympathetic take on my paternal grandmother’s arachnophobia. She was raised on a cotton farm in the early twentieth century. Indoor plumbing would have been a luxury years in the future, and outhouses were a favorite nesting place for black widows. I was disappointed to learn that rattlesnakes, before nesting for the winter, form writhing balls with their future den mates. This is apparently to get to know one another’s smell so they can identify any intruder that comes along. (What would intrude on a den of rattlesnakes?) And if you find it comforting that most people bitten by a brown recluse spiders never know it, there are those others who are dead within a couple of hours.

Grice is an erudite and personable guide to this world. His essays are an unpleasant pleasure.

[Jenny Schmenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This stuff's like gold to me! Detailed, reverent, lightly personal, nerdy, pragmatic, philosophical, and often astonishingly disgusting. Seriously, if you're squeamish, you do not want to read about scientists injecting themselves with black widow venom, or mantids eviscerating frogs. But if you love biology and enjoy narrative that's both pensive and descriptive, you should read this book. Grice's chapters are limited to: black widow, mantid, rattlesnake, tarantula, pig, canid, and recluse, but he ties their anatomy and behaviors to those of other predators.

[Kat V · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a weird one. It’s more anecdotal than scientific so it’s not quite what I was hoping for but it’s not bad. Some of the stories are sad if you like animals. Interesting but not what I wanted it to be. 3.3 stars.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gordon Grice is an English professor and armchair entomologist, and his book contains 7 engaging essays on the practices of various predators, mostly invertebrates like spiders and mantids. The essays are best enjoyed as showcases of English-language mastery instead of as scientific treatises, as Grice's writing often strays into sensationalism and anthropomorphism. Still, the essays are enjoyable and I must admire the man for being so passionate about such unlovable creatures.

[Scout B · Rating 4 out of 5]

While certain early chapters (like the black widow) were beautifully written, later ones felt like an under-researched afterthought by comparison. The book contains interesting information throughout, but it is clear that the author lost his initial enthusiasm as the book goes on.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gordon Grice’s The Red Hourglass is a fascinating, and at times squirm-inducing, look at a handful of predatory and poisonous species. The title of course refers to the signature markings on the body of the infamous black widow spider, whose profile is the debut chapter. After finishing thisHourglass, I’m no less frightened of the spiders but have more respect for their role in nature.

Grice looks at creatures with a scientist’s eye, interested but not empathetic. He relates their battles to eat, mate and survive in a detached manner, as well as the harrowing medical ordeals of the victims of poisonous bites. The author at times becomes something of a Michael Vick of the bug world, pitting various arthropods against each other for feeding purposes or occasionally for personal amusement. Allow me to note from experience that Hourglass not always a good book to read while eating.

In this book we have a front-row seat to not only the brutality of nature but the brutality of two-legged, big-brained creatures who should know better. We learn that every species imaginable was introduced to black widow venom in every way imaginable during laboratory studies. A scientist’s horrifying account of being bitten by a widow and its aftereffects gives us insight into what these countless uncomprehending animals may have faced. The chapter on rattlesnakes devotes a rather large amount of its text to how the hated reptiles are destroyed, by both humans and other species. At one point Grice profiles a man who “loves rattlesnakes.” What he actually meant is that the man loves to kill rattlesnakes—the man estimates he’s killed about a thousand for sale and collecting purposes. Sure, it’s hard to have much sympathy for rattlers—until you consider the role the species plays as both predator and prey, and what might happen to the ecosystem were they to be wiped out.

Like David Attenborough’s fascinating species, The Red Hourglass will give readers a renewed appreciation of the complexities and mysterious ways of nature.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an animal lover and young reader, I picked this book up when I was very little and it profoundly affected me. Gordon Grice takes a passionate look at different predatory animals, namely the black widow. He recollects personal experiences, histories of attacks, mating behaviors, dietary habits and much more. Rather than seeming like merely a straight-foward reference guide, Gordon Grice adds many stories involving his or his friend's experiences with spiders, snakes and other deadly predators. (It's quite fun to see how he plays God with some of the spiders.) While the book can be first and foremostly used as a reference and factual guide for zoology, it also makes a very interesting and entertaining non-fiction story. Gordon doesn't shy away from the details and manages to weave an exhilirating and thrilling story. The book is an easy read, but still extremely fascinating. I devoured it at a young age and can imagine myself doing it again.

[Dennis Littrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally engaging with a sardonic message

This is without doubt the most gruesomely graphic book on predation that I have ever read. The predators are: the black widow spider, the praying mantis, the rattlesnake, the tarantula, the pig, the dog, and the brown recluse spider. Another half dozen or so ghastly creatures also make their appearance such as the crocodile, a bizarre "cricket-beast," hawk wasps and wolf spiders, not to mention humans.

Gordon Grice, who is a gifted amateur naturalist who teaches humanities and English at Seward County Community College in Kansas is the kind of guy who collects crickets and spiders and beetles in jars so he can feed them live creatures and watch them chow down. He is the kind of guy who goes to rattlesnake roundups and breathes deeply. He is the kind of guy who stops for road kill and likes to attend vivisections. He's like the guy who goes to the top of a tall building just for the thrill of looking down; but what excites Grice's fancy is to watch how predators kill and devour their prey. The creepier the predator, the better. You can put those quick, clean and "humane" lion kills back in your VCR and watch it on TV. What Grice wants us to experience is exactly how the mandibles of the "cricket-beast"sound as they crunch through the beetle's exoskeleton and just how it feels to die, or nearly die, of rattlesnake or black widow venom.

He's not particularly interested in scholarship (there are no footnotes or references), although he is careful about letting us know when he thinks a certain report, say of a nine foot rattler, is probably an exaggeration. He is an excellent writer who knows the value of concrete detail, tersely put; and he has the scientist's love for finding out exactly how something happens. What he does that no other writer in my recall has done is to emphasize the disgusting and revolting details of predation without euphemism or the use of any fig leaves.

Be forewarned then that this is NOT the sort of nature book your eight-year-old grandson needs to read before going to bed--although if he gets his hands on it, he will! And he will have nightmares.

The question that might be asked is why is Grice so intend on rubbing our faces in the brutality of nature? Clearly he has an agenda over and above grossing us out. I get the idea that he thinks a lot of what we hear about ourselves and our fellow creatures is so much pollyannaish tripe. He doesn't say as much directly but consider this from page 245:

"There is actually nothing your average scientist hates more than information from nonscientists, all of whom he assumes to be unwashed, idol-worshipping degenerates good only for working on cars. The thing your average scientist despises second most is a fact that doesn't fit his theory..."

Grice is able to dazzle us with his own observations about the animals he studies, but being an English prof he knows that his standing in the scientific community is (or before he wrote this book, was) zilch. It's easy to identify with his frustration in this matter, and acknowledge that it is a shame that scientists tend to run the other way when they see a nonscientist coming, or that they will not give credence to ideas that come from nonscientists. And it is especially true that nothing is worse for a scientist than a fact that doesn't fit his theory!

Grice's inclusion of dogs and pigs as predators goes toward making what I see as one of the messages of this book. Simply put, we humans are domesticated animals. We have--helped along by our dogs, pigs, sheep and cattle, our grains and fruits, our social and political structures--become "tamed." Grice darkly hints, as H. G. Wells did in his novel The Time Machine (1895), that this may not be all to the good. With our effete fussiness about the vulgarity of the animal world we are becoming like the Eloi who will be eaten by the brutal Morlocks. If we lose our ability to act without inhibition as the creatures Grice describes do when in pursuit of their dinners, we may indeed become something akin to sheep. Grice doesn't mention it directly but there is some considerable evidence that domesticated animals are not as smart as the wild kind.

After advising us of just how horrid dogs can be, especially as pack hunters, Grice presents the counterpoint: "The care of animals, along with the tending of crops, is a root of our social structure. It dictates our need for permanent homes, our construction of walls and fences, ultimately our economy and culture. The dog makes this possible, because it was the dog, with his keener nose and ears, that made it feasible for us to protect livestock from nocturnal predators. Our tools, intelligence, and eyesight complement his senses; we share a territorial instinct that gives us a common goal." (p 231)

He adds, "This bond [between man and dog] distinguishes the dog from other canids. It also distinguishes modern humanity from its older branches, because it is an essential element of the change from hunter-gatherer to the settled life." (p. 232)

Finally, in a kind of summation, after observing the collapse and then rise again of the brown recluse spider populations in his shed, Grice writes, "Serial murder, war, genocide, and even witch hunts have all been linked to population changes and competition. We let ourselves off the hook ["kid ourselves," I would say] when we define such killing as 'abnormal.' We put the behavior at a distance, letting ourselves think of it as something alien, something we normal folk could never do.... But the capacity to murder, to become demonic, is in our nature.

"One of our natures, anyway." (p. 258)

--Dennis Littrell, author of “Understanding Evolution and Ourselves”

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gordon Grice is crazy. He's an English instructor at a community college who likes to raise black widow spiders for fun...and then gets them to duke it out with beetles, mantids, and any other nasty little thing he finds in the backyard of his rural Kansas home. Yikes! But he's also a darn good writer...if a bit creepy. And he doesn't limit his topic to just black widows here. Each chapter focuses on a different predatory species, including pigs! Fun stuff, but perhaps not a read for just before bedtime.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book but would have rated it higher if it hadn't been so anemic toward the end. Grice richly researches the black widow spider but does not investigate his remaining predators with a similar depth. His chapter on the brown recluse, in comparison, is disappointing. Part of what makes the black widow chapter so entertaining is because Grice has such a deep personal experience with this particular spider. Just the same, he has uncovered so many interesting stories and research on the black widow that the book is worth reading just for this chapter.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always had a thing for predators, even as a child. I used to capture spiders in jars, and one of my favorite childhood nature memories was the time I found a large praying mantis in the backyard. So this book was right up my alley. Plus it was, surprisingly, beautifully written.

The black widow, mantis, rattlesnake, and tarantula chapters were, of course, amazing. The chapter that surprised me that most was the one on pigs. Fascinating.

Some may call this book morbid and gross. It's certainly not for everyone. If you like snakes and spiders, though, then this is a must-read.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely first-rate natural history -- nice to see pigs given their due, fit company for venomous spiders. Funny, gruesome, laconic, unforgettable. A curiously American book, too. These are the creatures that fill our empty spaces and our imaginations.

[Andi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't read if you're afraid of creepy crawlies!

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I DNFed this book. I dislike nonfiction books without references, and it was almost entirely based on his own experiences. As a biologist, I had greater expectations.

[Cienna · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are so SO many problems with this book. I went into this thinking (based on the description) that it would be an interesting view on what predators that we don't often think about do in their spare time, how they behave and how their venoms/poisons/weapons work. I was terribly wrong. This author, someone trained as a writer not a scientist, has NO scientific background and it shows badly. This is not necessarily a bad thing, many fantastic scientists and teachers alike started out as hobbyists and you don't NEED a degree to be knowledgeable about animals/plants/etc. BUT, if you are writing LITERATURE THAT IS NONFICTION about animals you should probably have some training that is BASIC about how scientific information is presented. There are ZERO citations in this entire book and ZERO references in the back, and index NOTHING of that sort. This author has RIDICULOUS stories in his book about 10 foot snakes and people being bitten on the genitals and dying as well as continuous animals abuse and obscene claims of animal experimentation. Some of these stories and cases MAY be true but without using names of people, places, institutes or citing any sources, all I think is that they are he said she said lies. This author is also disgustingly sexual about all of the animals. He describes hog, spider, mantis and snake mating with creepily human words, emotions and verbiage that is horribly unnecessary. It is borderline bestiality and I am not even exaggerating. I would quote directly from the book but I don't want to have to reread those sentences. I am a trained biologist and I understand how reproduction works and am not squeamish about the scientific aspects of it but trust me there is NOTHING scientific about this. The author is also oddly obsessed with animal abuse and it goes far beyond mere curiosity. He describes being bored of observing an animal so he instead throws it into a tank pit bull fight style with another predator to see who will win. It doesn't matter if these are mammals or insects that's wrong. He is obsessed with human death and mutilation of both human and animal obsessions. The deaths of all the animals in this are unnecessarily detailed and it is more akin to a slasher film that is banned from theaters than any kind of literature the average human would want to read. It is very disappointing that a book about misunderstood animals only furthers the stereotype of their species. (on a side note he doesn't use the scientific names of any animal so we have no idea what species he's actually speaking of). Spiders are not born mankillers, snakes are not out to get you, pigs are not some murderous night beast, dogs are not going to eat your children and mantids do not slice through a finger like a piece of paper. Garbage to read, I do not suggest this to anyone please go read an encyclopedia rather than this, you will learn more in one page of ACTUAL DATA than you would in this 250 page disaster.

[Shawn Thrasher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing moving, elegant prose about any subject is difficult enough, but Gordon Grice writes elegant, moving prose about some of nature's most feared creatures. In three essays, he writes reverently and lovingly about black widows, tarantulas, and brown recluse spiders - the triumvirate of nightmares for most of us, feared and loathed. Three other essays - about rattlesnakes, pigs and dogs - round out nature's house of horrors. The essay about rattlesnakes is the best among the other three (fascinating and strange creatures). But it's when he's writing about spiders that his evocative language and adoration truly come to life. Grice is obviously an arachnophile and an amateur (I guess) arachnologist who has succeeded in making spiders if not more likable (they really are still scary) then at least a little bit more understood (as much as he's able; we STILL don't know a whole lot about how spider venom even works). This book certainly isn't for extreme arachnophobes; but I recommend it if you like reading essays about Mother Nature and all her wonders.

[Olivia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so disgusted and disappointed by this book. He describes having love for these animals but all he can think to really focus on is how to kill them or disrespect them in some way. The rattlesnake chapter in particular made me so upset. The majority of it was detailed accounts of snakes he, his friends, and others have killed.....and how they deprecated the environment to do it. I know this book is slightly outdated and he is not a scientist and does not provide scientific fact, but honestly ... I did not care for the tone in which he presented the animals he was describing. Every species on this planet provides a purpose and some balance and honestly the message is not even remotely close to "the lives of predators" sorry, absolutely not for me. I'd prefer something that celebrates their lives rather than focusing on ways to end them.

[Kyle Spishock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I made the mistake of reading this at night. It might be the most disturbing book I’ve ever read.

Author Gordon Grice organizes collected observations on the numerous predators he finds around his shed in Oklahoma, covering black widows, rattlesnakes, mantis, and even pigs, amongst others. That’s pretty much the only ties that bring this text together.

Grice often captures his subjects, puts them in confinement, and - watching with glee - describes their assault and consumption in graphic detail. He’s a good writer, but this is the kind of thing serial killer’s would journal as teenagers, exacting their violent urges on smaller and experimental prey.

[Cody S. Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed in the context but it's still a good book. I thought this was more an informative book on the habits and rituals of Spiders and other venomous animals. Really, it's more the author telling you of his encounters with the animals he covers with the book. It's well thought out and worded wonderfully though. Easy to read and easy to follow along, but to me, I thought he began to ramble a bit after the first few chapters and he tends to talk about things no one would really care about.

[Ethan A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning. I loved reading this book. I've talked about this book so much that I think my family and partner are starting to get annoyed with me.

The Red Hourglass profiles some of the lesser-lauded predators of the animal kingdom —canids, mantids, and black widows, to name a few. Throughout Grice's clear-eyed look at what it means to be a predator, he uncovers insights on what it means to be a human (since we're mid-foodchain predators ourselves)!

Highly recommend to nature enthusiasts and nature avoiders alike.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Cool read. Really brings these dangerous animals to life. The other people reviewing sound annoying, and are curmudgeons! It’s awesome! And not even my kind of book. I’m a sci fi guy. But some good sci is always welcome.

[Max Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect starter for the novice naturalist! Grice entertains and informs with his excellent synopses of select predators, employing biology, history, and just great story-telling! Fun, educational, and cringe-worthy!

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deep dive into the lives of predatory animals, from the black widow to the wolf. The author looks pretty deeply into how these insects and animals exist in an unseen world. It gets a little philosophical towards the end, but the beginning chapters are fascinating.

[Simon Cowhig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Big fan, very descriptive, read for my animal behaviour module at uni and found it very interesting and useful to hear these accounts of how animals behave.

[Erik Empson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read July 2012. Good!

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very interesting and fun to read. I learned a lot. The book definitely puts you into the minds of predators. The chapters on widows, pigs and recluses were my favorites.

[Andrew Fear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up on a whim and am very glad that I did. It's mainly about creepy crawlies with a couple of mammalian intrusions. These latter work. but I couldn't help wondering whether a couple more creepies wouldn't have preserved its unity better. Its rare to find a scientific book which non scientists enjoy reading and perhaps the fact that the author is an enthusiast rather than a pro helps in that respect. Anyway I found it fascinating: an engaging mixture of data, personal anecdote, and interesting musings on what these animals tell us about creation in general. I learnt a lot about spiders etc and also a lot abot our dealing with them The author is engaging, though I wondered at time whether he wasn't being a bit right-on with his pronouns (I know she is usually right with insects, but wondered about some of the he's...) still one must pity anyone who has to live in a town called Liberal....

[M— · Rating 4 out of 5]

The opening essay on black widow spiders was incredible — well written, informative, deeply thought, passionate, and vastly interesting; five stars for it alone — but the subsequent essays weren't good. Still recommended, mind, just... of lesser quality. Figure three-star average for them.

Of the seven essays here, three of them are on the topic of spiders (and a fourth, on the mantid, that touched on spiders). I don't consider myself a victim of arachnophobia, but I felt invisible fantasy spiders crawling on me for the next full day. The final essay featured an antidote about a woman discovering she'd been sleeping on bed with dozens of brown recluses living beneath it. I had a very hard time sleeping that night.

Grice has an excellent website up with information on these essays and many others:

http://deadlykingdom.blogspot.com/p/r...

[Peter Landau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made my skin crawl, but then I'm no fan of creepy-crawlers. I don't think Gordon Grice once uses such a derogatory term to describe the predators -- spiders, mantis, pig, canine -- he writes about in THE RED HOURGLASS: LIVES OF THE PREDATORS. He is blessed with the two attributes necessary for a great writer: literary skills and obsessive devotion. Together they make for stories that, even when I felt as if infested with vermin, made me keep reading. My fears were no match for Grice's infectious curiosity, intelligence and prowess.