ookstore 



Wild Shores and Wild Places 



"George Washington 

 Slipped Here ..." 



If you answer to the call of the 

 wild, you'll want a copy of Wild 

 Shores for the journey. 



Author Walter K. Taylor has 

 scouted the wet and wild places of 

 North Carolina's coastal plain by 

 horse, motorcycle, canoe and foot. 

 Along the way he's gathered more 

 than enough snake stories — the cot- 

 tonmouth is the star of these viper 

 vignettes — and invaluable tips on 

 camping (primitive and pampered), 

 hunting, fishing, hiking and 

 nature-ogling, from Mackay Island 

 to Portsmouth to Green Swamp. 



The Washington native takes 

 readers along the banks of Potecasi 

 Creek with a Meherrin Indian chief, 

 gathering medicinal plants and shak- 

 ing the fruits from this Chowan 

 tributary's wild grape vines. He 

 stops to sip the juniper-steeped wa- 

 ters of the Dismal Swamp Canal 

 and nets spring runs of Roanoke 

 river herring. 



He even includes a few stories 

 you didn't know you needed to 

 know. Like how the beauty of 

 Ocracoke distracted poet Robert 

 Frost from his plans of suicide in the 

 macabre Dismal Swamp. Or where 

 George Washington reportedly 

 slipped into — and subsequently 

 named — the swamp's Deep Creek. 



He explores Cedar Island on a 

 quarter horse and advises readers 

 how they can do the same. He tells 

 where to spy eagles and hooded 

 mergansers, rare dwarf trillium and 

 wild camellias, and virgin stands of 

 cypress and juniper. 



Taylor also shares his pick for 

 the best day hike along the Outer 

 Banks and reminds potential camp- 

 ers to bring mosquito netting and 



extra-long sand pegs to anchor tents on 

 Bodie Island. He advises what levels 

 of wilderness expertise are necessary 

 for which expeditions — be it a foray 

 in the Enchanted Forest of Merchants 

 Millpond or a plunge down the rapids 

 of the Roanoke River. 



Anne Marshall Runyon 



Wild Shores is no trendy vacation 

 guide or coffee-table piece. The 

 159-page manual is illustrated best by 

 the writer's anecdotes and practical in- 

 formation about exploring the state's 

 coastal parks and natural playgrounds, 

 accented by local lore and legend and 

 current information about coastal com- 

 munities. Taylor divides the coast into 

 eight sections; each chapter features 

 reference lists of addresses and phone 

 numbers. 



The book is $13.95. Check with 

 your local bookstore or the publisher: 

 Down Home Press, P.O. Box 4126, 

 Asheboro, NC 27204 (919/672-6889). 



Homing in on Habitat 



The primary audience for North 

 Carolina WILD Places: A Closer Look 

 is schoolteachers and other educators 

 who participate in the N.C. Wildlife 

 Resources Commission's conservation 

 education workshops. But individual 

 students of nature will also appreciate 

 this beautifully illustrated guide to 13 

 of the state's major habitats. 



From mountain cove forests and 

 beaver ponds to salt marshes and mari- 

 time forests, this 82-page guide focuses 

 on plant and animal communities and 

 their dynamics, natural histories and 

 importance, and the forces that threaten 

 them. The sections also list public areas 

 where visitors can explore examples of 

 the respective habitats. 



The book, which was published by 

 the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commis- 

 sion's Division of Conservation Educa- 

 tion, features detailed drawings by 

 Anne Marshall Runyon, including sev- 

 eral in color, and other illustrations by 

 Jim Brown. The text was written by 

 various naturalists and journalists. 



"WILD Places represents the only 

 concise descriptions and illustrations of 

 some of the diverse ecosystems found 

 in North Carolina," says Sea Grant 

 Marine Education Specialist Lundie 

 Spence, who authored a section on 

 ocean hardbottoms. 



"It's a real important educational 

 tool for teachers, 4-H groups, Scouts 

 and museums," says Spence. "Families 

 who want to introduce themselves and 

 their children to North Carolina's natu- 

 ral habitats will also find this book 

 very useful." 



WILD Places is $10. Copies are 

 available from the N.C. Wildlife Re- 

 sources Commission, Division of 

 Conservation Education, 512 N. 

 Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27604-1188 

 (919/733-7133). 



COASTWATCH 25 



