Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law

"Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law" by Mary Roach is a captivating and witty examination of the complex interactions between humans and wildlife, delivered through Roach's trademark humor and curiosity. The book tackles intriguing questions like how to handle a jaywalking moose or a bear caught in the act of breaking and entering, combining elements of science, law, and conservation to explore the curious phenomenon of animals behaving badly.Roach embarks on a journey with various specialists, including animal-attack forensics investigators and bear managers, as she investigates real-life conflicts that arise when wildlife crosses paths with humans. Her adventures take her from the Indian Himalayas, where locals face threats from leopards, to St. Peter’s Square confronting vandalous gulls. Along the way, she engages in quirky experiences, including taste-testing rat bait and even getting mugged by a macaque. With engaging prose and fascinating insights, "Fuzz" reveals that when it comes to "problem" wildlife, humans often play a significant role in the solutions. This enlightening read showcases Roach's ability to blend science with storytelling, ultimately advocating for a compassionate coexistence with the natural world amid the complexities of modern life.

I’m an animal person, and a big fan of the many nature shows on TV, so I know many animals and I love to learn about them. This book is unique in that it’s about the interfacing of animals and people, and it highlights the problems caused by many different species, and the sometimes hilarious efforts of government and other agencies to control or eradicate the “pests”. The author has a great sense of humor, and I found myself chuckling or laughing out loud at the wry way she has of bringing out the humor in many of these situations. Sorry the book is finished, I enjoyed every page of it. I highly recommend it to all of my my animal compatriots.

A 5 star book that takes an around-the-world look at the crossroads where humans and animals meet. And when they do meet, the erratic, often unforeseeable, things that happen. ”For most of the past century, your odds of being killed by a cougar were about the same as your odds of being killed by a filing cabinet. Snowplows kill twice as many Canadians as grizzly bears do.” We don’t outlaw snowplows, or filing cabinets. What are we to do about the “wildlife problem”? “The black bear is a ridiculously lovable species. There's a reason kids have teddy bears, not teddy goats or teddy eels.”Science writer Mary Roach takes a deep dive into the human-animal conundrum. What do we do when grizzly bears are breaking into homes - and refrigerators? Seagulls are uprooting pots of flowers and randomly scattering the floral displays meant or the Pope’s Easter mass? Sacred monkeys terrorize Indian citizens?“I can’t judge” says Roach. "We all have emotional connections to certain branches of the tree of life, and for some that branch is trees. We are irrational in our species-specific devotions. I know a man who won’t eat octopus because of its intelligence. Yet he eats pork and buys glue traps for rats, though rats and pigs are highly intelligent, likely more intelligent—I’m guessing, for I have not seen the SAT scores—than octopuses. Why, for that matter, is intelligence the scale by which we decide whom to spare? Or size? Have the simple and the small less right to live?”Roach’s books are informative and engaging. Combining a brief outline of the facts with the details of the problem, including moral quandaries, etc. and information on ideas that have previously been or yet-to-be been tried, her humorous tongue-in-cheek style of writing make this book a delight to read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I have read several other books by Roach, Fuzz is my favorite thus far.

Mary Roach is one of my favorite authors because she digs into normally untouched subjects and investigates, and then writes with eloquence about those subjects. Here she approaches wild animals that do now want to be told what to do or how to do it.For instance, monkeys are a huge problem in India. What do you do to control them when the public hates them and wants you to control them, but they are also considered sacred. Killing them off isn't the answer, so let's look at birth control. Humorous you think, but it might just be the way to create a less harmful group of monkeys. However, because the monkeys are wild, you can't use any stitches which they would pull out. To find the really answer, you have to read the book.Throughout the book she looks at a number of species that present this unusual problem. Some solutions, such as topping of dead tress is pretty easy (comparatively speaking) but others are much more dangerous and difficult to control. Take elephants, for instance. You have food, they want the food and nobody with a brain is going to tell the elephant no. So how do you keep them from tipping over a mud house looking for the food?There are numerous other animals explored and problems as well, but the book reads almost like a novel and is delightful in the detail it provides. I would recommend this to anyone with even a mild interest in wild animals or places.

My friend loves it. If you're a Mary Roach fan do not hesitate to buy.

Even mediocre Mary Roach is better than most books

There are a ton of very interesting facts in this book. The best part is that they are presented clearly and with humor. I was drawn in by the author's unique style and stayed for the interest level. Well done!