El Lobo Returns Home
The battle over America’s wolves goes back centuries. In an excerpt from the forthcoming “Wolf Nation,” a journalist follows the release of a single family into the wild.
animals
A collection of 68 issues
This Bird’s Life
Leave the pardoning to the president. For one budding farmer, some truths are self-evident: that turkeys are stupid, dirty, and very mean.
The Last Dying Cat
When the family pet nears the end, of course there is sadness. But there is also every other emotion.
Hunting the Hound
A lifelong phobia is the result of a terrifying childhood incident. But the real culprit may be Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Slaughter
To produce food in the form of meat, an animal will be killed. Obvious but significant: You will realize you are about to end a life.
This Was No Accident
Forty years after Jaws, why the very first blockbuster should be considered art—and how it helped one man to survive.
Our Dino Love Will Never Die
Dinosaurs haven’t been super-popular for 65 million years—it only feels that way. Fans and experts explain our obsession with dead monsters.
The Problem of the Flying Puppies
Catfishing is usually part of an online romance scam—not the world of expensive French bulldogs.
The Riflemaker Dreams of Africa
The American West is a myth. One Wyoming gunmaker looks anywhere else—abroad, in the past, in himself—for new wilderness.
Symbolism for Beginners
For tens of thousands of years, wild horses have inspired humans—to nurture, to create, to slaughter—culminating in the past century of America’s legal and psychological battles over the horses we can’t own.
Groundhog Days
In Woodstock, Ill., where “Groundhog Day” was filmed, hundreds of fans gather every year, year after year, to celebrate their favorite movie.
Queen of the Jungle
Orangutans are some of humans’ closest relatives, genetically. They also rarely exhibit aggression, despite how we've abused them. One is different.
Dharma Dog
A blind woman and her guide dog share a symbiosis that can become a spiritual bond for both.
Terrapin Station
All the magic of the Mojave Desert, or the Amazon rainforest, can be found in the salt marshes of New Jersey.
Water From Elephants
Humans have kept elephants for thousands of years, longer than we've domesticated chickens. Yet the great animals’ capacity to cry for freedom comes as a shock.
King Lear With Sheep
London traffic, bladder control, and a runaway Cordelia challenge a mostly wool production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.”
Day of the Goose
Small towns around Europe host goose-pulling days—contests to snap the necks of birds at high speed. In the name of sport and pride, a tradition from the Middle Ages prospers, criticism notwithstanding.
What Doesn’t Kill You Doesn’t Kill You
A visit to a bear sanctuary could cure you of your bear phobia. Or it could turn your fear into a full-blown obsession.
Giving Up the Cat
After seeing “Inside Llewyn Davis” I just had one question: Where was that cat supposed to pee?
Brief Interviews With Very Small Publishers
Magazine publishing is a dark art. But the world of niche publishing—people who create magazines for necrophiliacs or donkey hobbyists, or for those of us who like to ride really small trains—features its own requirements.
Kitty Pride
A visit with the prima donnas of the 32nd Annual Westchester County Cat Show helps a longtime owner appreciate her unruly childhood best friend, now departed.
To Kill and To Eat
Farming chickens takes care and concentration, and a deal with the birds: We give you a life of safety and comfort, and you die for our food. Until a murdering predator arrives and gives lie to the vow.
Games Kittens Play
How to play, how to win, and how to act like you won whether you did or not.
The Private Lives of the Cryptozoologists
Personal collections groomed over decades gather signs of Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and other hidden animals—crumbs of a fuller truth preserved by citizen scientists. One such collection in Maine is open to the public.
Hey, Bear
The great American wilderness is home to hungry stomachs, including some that reside in animals weighing 600 pounds more than you.
Catlike DIY
A long-ignored home improvement project awaits. The tools and materials are at the ready, and there's nothing to stop you. Then enters a cat named Jeeves.
Call and Response
Sometimes a book appears in your life and starts to pester you. The characters act like your friends. Events occur in the plot that reappear inside your home. It’s enough to drive a man to wonder which world is more real, until danger appears.
Nipples at the State Fair
The state fair puts on display the usual cornucopia of wonders both natural and synthetic, all ready for your sampling. A young man gets in touch with his appetite.
Drawn to Dogs
Pet people and non-pet people are different breeds for whom inter-species communication can be impossible. Then along comes the ugliest dog in the world. A study of one heart’s redoing.
Erogenous Gaps
Humor happens when an audience fills in the gaps--at its best, those gaps are packed layers deep with meaning. An explanation of an 18-word Mitch Hedberg joke.
The Languid Dirge of the Hippo Father
While “Tiger Moms” may pour their energies into rearing successful children, Long Island offspring are learning to beat the tiger cubs at Halo.
Nest
Where people build homes, birds sometimes build nests—and there’s no guarantee cohabitation of the species will be idyllic.
Invasion of the Bayou Snatchers
Not all oil-soaked animals in Louisiana deserve saving. Our writer attends fashion shows, braises venison, and heads into the bayou to understand the varmint of New Orleans: nutria.
Here Lies the Elephant Bird
Running across a story about a shrimp-like creature that survived where few thought anything could live, the Golem recalls the time he hunted the Aepyornis.
A Nature Documentary: The Post-Screening Q&A
The film lays bare all the raw intensity of the subject matter, holding back nothing. But some may wonder: What’s the lion’s motivation?
And Now a Few Minutes With Andy Rooney’s Homo Erectus Ancestor
What the kids call “Acheulean,” others call pretentious nonsense. And what’s up with fire?
To Will a Mockingbird
Fashions come and go, but names tend to stick around forever, even hippie ones.
La Vache Qui Rit and Another Cow Altogether
A passion for French cinema turns into an offscreen romance. Never mind the language barrier, because the cultural barriers are so much funnier.
Tattooed Drunk Diamond-Dusted Kentucky Derby Fan
Churchill Downs is like no other sports event, considering sports are barely involved. Our writer attended her first Derby last year with a family of committed fans and survived to tell the tale.
2008
From unearthed media to otherworldly technology to reflection on a personal and economic level, the year was filled with things of every shape, size, and significance. THE WRITERS give us the best of what they noted.
Hard Times Dog
From the financial crisis to the election and even the weather, unhappiness abounds.
What Is It, Boy?
When a beloved companion dies, existential crises loom. Tracing the history of Neptune, a mixed Australian Shepherd, all the way back to the dawn of mammals.
Man Bites Dog
As bookstores swell with narratives, instruction manuals, and other paeans to man’s best friend, publishers turn to even the most inexperienced owners for new pulp.
Here's the Beef
In February, the largest beef recall in history capped weeks of speculation about sick cows, then prompted many to wonder where all that meat went off to.
The Bear
Being a new father of two girls takes love, patience, and the wisdom not to attack other children in their defense.
Three Simple Ways to Abandon Your Family
When enough is enough, when federal investigators are on your trail, or you’ve decided to marry that cocktail waitress after all—it’s time to leave.
Signs of the Beast
Yesterday's news is today's birdcage liner--no longer. Nicole Pasulka begins our new regular feature, reviewing the past month's headlines. For June 2007: four weeks of staggering animal attacks.
Choose MedCalf
Americans spend more on health care than anyone in the world, yet the quality of our care doesn’t match up. We need a new system—one we can believe in.
My Bloodthirsty Valentine
What says true love better than ear-shattering shrieks interspersed with low, guttural growling? If you're in the market for a uniquely thoughtful Valentine's Day present, we have the perfect, possibly rabies-infected gift for you.
Fragments From Horse’s Mouth! the Musical
It wasn’t long into the nation’s mourning for Barbaro that Broadway’s top producers hatched a plan to preserve his fame. But who knew purgatory was meant for horses?
The Kennel at the End of the World
Sure, you’re going to heaven, but what about your dog—and yes, even your cat? A helpful guide to caring for your pets after the rapture.
In the Realm of the Oak Queen
A generation ago, the death of a pet prompted heartbreak, but the burial may have been a simple backyard affair. Pet funerals these days are going upscale, and one New York pet crematorium sets a shining example.
Do-Re-Moo
A report from the world of cow singing in England, where cattle stampede to hear Johnny Rotten imitations.
Barbaro Responds to Fans
The nation falls in love with an injured horse and a thousand weepy editorials and get-well cards salute his courage. Now our equine hero responds to his well-wishers via his assistant.
Raise the Woof
While Super Bowl XL was being beamed into taverns across Manhattan, bars showing Puppy Bowl II were a lot harder to come by.
We Didn't Start the Fire
The winter 2006 tour journal of the Piano Men, North America's only five-member Billy Joel tribute band.
I, Servant
Admitting you have a problem is a big hurdle to face, but confessing you need help can be even more difficult, especially when you're forced to choose your own path. So: Will it be robot or monkey?
Greetings From the Mercer Mobile Home Community Zoo
Political battles! Injured children! Mange! You’ve wondered what goes on inside the bureaucracy that is your local mobile-home community’s zoo—now we let you in.
What Would Teddy Do?
Last week Maine citizens voted on Question 2—whether or not to outlaw the “baiting, hounding, and trapping” of bears. So why didn’t such an apparently humane measure pass?
A Day at the Races
In the eighth installment of her letters from Scotland, our writer blissfully listens to a talking head, then turns around and runs for her life.
I Was a 10-Year-Old Political Consultant
Leading a political campaign can be a thankless job, as ex-Dean-campaign manager Joe Trippi well knows. But what if your candidate isn’t a Democrat from Vermont, but a woodland creature? Our writer recalls his electioneering days.
Quick Change Terrain
In the second installment of her letters from Scotland, our writer watches “Neighbors,” hits the Highlands, and meets the most helpful shaggy dog in Scotland.
Bear Attack in Western Montana
Childhood education can come from paths less traveled, when a Boy Scout trip takes an unforeseen direction.
An Interview With the Dolphin
Many were surprised when the U.S. Navy announced it was using dolphins for mine-sweeping in the war with Iraq. Even more were stunned when one of the dolphins went AWOL. Submerged reporter PAUL FORD gets the interview.
Tunnel Visions
There may be a thousand art exhibits in the city at any time, but few are housed in an abandoned subway tunnel buried under Brooklyn.
Ads Are Stupid
A purple thing with eyes will make you buy cheeseburgers. Shaking rumps will make you buy beer. Bears are supposed to do something too.
Operation Fish From Hell
The U.S. has many problems right now, but its deadliest threat can grow to three feet long: the Chinese Snakehead. Our reporter goes deep undercover to get the government's reaction to a meat-eating snake.
Beyond Black Dogs and Mice
A survey of creatures which foreshadow depression, and their literary origins. Our writer gives the lowdown on the beasts that portend misery.