Palmer, Thomas. Landscape with reptile; rattlesnakes in an urban world

Kliatt, July, 2004 by Nola Theiss

PALMER, Thomas. Landscape with reptile; rattlesnakes in an urban world. Lyons Press. 340p. notes. index. c2004. 1-59228-000-5. $14.95. JSA

Thomas Palmer is a novelist and a naturalist and in this book he writes about his own backyard, Blue Hills Reservation, which lies within view of the tall buildings of downtown Boston. Blue Hills is conservation land and the home to many varieties of wildlife, including the occasional hermit, but Palmer's focus is on Crotalus horridus, also known as the rattlesnake. Rather than finding rattlesnakes horrible, he finds them fascinating and uses their story in the park as a vehicle to write about the history of the area, based on fact and folklore, evolution, urban planning, and the American way of life. Like the best nature writers, he makes readers see and understand more than they ever knew was there and, by extension, awakens them to the possibilities in their own backyards. Nola Theiss, Sanibel, FL