Synopses & Reviews
An invitation into the magical, grueling, and virtually unknown world of exotic animal training
Behind the imposing gate of the Exotic Animal Training Program at California's Moorpark College lies a kingdom full of small mysteries, deep passions, and a camel that shoots hoops. Each year a select group of students descends on this teaching zoo to learn an improbable talent: how to communicate with animals. The only school of its kind, Moorpark pushes the limits of all the enrolled as they master hundreds of Latin species names and zoonotic diseases, all while hosing down cages at dawn and noting that Zulu the mandrill takes his morning juice in a paper cup -- never plastic. The alumni of this elite program hold the most coveted positions at the world's finest zoos, aquariums, and sanctuaries. They are also the trainers who work in television and film, bringing Moorpark's enlightened methods to the business of animals for hire.
Author Amy Sutherland returns with the same impassioned voice that made her debut, Cookoff, such a delight. Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched is a fascinating look at a little-known profession for animal lovers everywhere.
Review
Anyone who reads [this book] will never view animals in quite the same way again. (
Los Angeles Times)
Review
If you've ever dreamed of swimming with dolphins, dancing with wolves, or walking a cheetah on a leash, then this is the book for you. (The Christian Science Monitor)
Synopsis
A rare and absolutely enchanting look inside the Harvard of wild animal wranglers As is obvious to anyone who has read her most e-mailed New York Times article of 2006, ?What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage,? Amy Sutherland knows a thing or two about animals. In Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched, she takes readers behind the gates of Moorpark Community College, where students are taught such skills as how to train a hyena to pirouette and coax a tiger to open wide for a vet exam. As she follows the faculty, student body, and four- footed teaching aides at Moorpark?s Exotic Animal Training and Management program, Sutherland produces a true walk on the wild side, filled with wonder, comedy, occasional heartache, and transcendent beauty.
About the Author
Amy Sutherland is the author of Cookoff and was a features reporter at the Portland Press Herald in Portland, Maine, for seven years. Her articles have also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, and Disney Magazine. She has a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University.