Description:
In one of those odd, unplanned moments of fate, David Raber paid a couple of thousand dollars to liberate a depressed and frightened cougar cub from a pet-shop cage. He took Cougar, the eponymous big cat, home, introduced him to the more compact cats that already lived with him, and watched as the household adjusted, bit by bit, to the unlikely newcomer. Everyone eventually did. So, too, did the neighborhood dogs, and most of the neighbors--though a few, Raber writes grumpily, behaved in less than friendly ways when Cougar went out for a stroll or kept vigil in the bushes. All the while, Raber observed his new housemate's behavior, learning how to interpret Cougar's growls and purrs, and how to give Cougar the freedom to act naturally in an unnatural setting. Bringing Cougar into his home, Raber writes, "would refocus my priorities and change what I had considered important." He recounts that transformation and his changing view of wildlife and the environment, as well as the accidental fame that befell Cougar as the residents of one crowded Florida town after another came to appreciate his company. A kind of modern rejoinder to Joy Adamson's Born Free, Raber's memoir of his sentimental education in the ways of Felis concolor will interest animal enthusiasts of all kinds. --Gregory McNamee
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