Mammals of North America

The new guide book by Kays and Wilson is a great resource for identifying the mammals of North America. The old Peterson mammal guide book is badly out of date, both with respect to range and taxonomy. For example, it lists Grizzly Bear and Wolverine as residing in Colorado, when neither species has been sighted in the state in nearly 30 years. The new Kays and Wilson book also places the range map on the same page as the species description, which is MUCH more useful than placing all of the maps collectively in the back of the book (as is done with Peterson). The illustrations are sharp and the descriptions concise; everything that you would want in a field guide. The book also includes supplemental sections on tracks, scat and surface profiles for marine mammals (all of which are missing from the old Peterson mammal book).

This book is a great reference and field guide with beautiful picture and very detailed information. This book is so well written that everyone from scientists to inquisitive children will enjoy and learn from this book. It would make a great gift for any nature loving person. The great pictures and animals descriptions will keep everyone happy. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in nature.

I am thrilled to say that I have finally found what will be my "go-to" guide for mammal identification. This book does a fantastic job identifying all 442 mammal species of North America. Some of the more helpful features: a quick guide to point you to the right section of the book, fantastic artwork (not distracting photos) to reference, information on identifying the tracks of some of the larger species, and of course, most helpful to an amateur like me, there are plenty of pictures of scat!! And yet I am pleased to report that this beautiful reference does it all in a classic field guide size! For any interested amateur naturalist, hiker, hunter, etc - it will become the obvious choice to pack up and take along.

As an avid hunter and traveler, I found this book to be the empitome of nature books for North America. No other book that I have read goes in as much detail as to the behavior of so many different species of mammals. It has helped me to track and handle confrontations that I have encountered in the woods and I would highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys the outdoors. Kays and Wilson have truly done a great justice in educating enthusiasts everywhere with Mammals of North America.