Leslie Patten Books: Wild Places, Sacred Spaces

I’m very excited to announce the fall release of Ghostwalker: Tracking a Mountain Lion’s Soul through Science and Story published through University of Nebraska Press. This is an expanded edition of the independently published version in 2018. So what’s new?

1. A new chapter on mountain lions and desert bighorn sheep in the Southwest, a very sticky topic. Bighorn sheep are always teetering into the vulnerable category due to diseases transmitted by domestic sheep that have infected all bighorn herds throughout the Western states. But desert bighorn, who live in isolated sky islands with small herds, are particularly at risk. Predation from mountain lions is targeted as a high risk for desert bighorns. I explore and contrast management attitudes and policies towards mountain lions and bighorns in three states in particular: New Mexico, Arizona, and California. I spent time interviewing and traveling throughout the SW to better understand this gordian knot of a problem.
2. California! So many new things are happening with mountain lions in California. The California chapter is completely rewritten with a series of new interviews. Biologists Quintons Martins who is doing a study in Sonoma County fills us in on North Coast issues, while Justin Dellinger with CDFW dives deep into isolated populations throughout the state. Kristeen Penrod provides maps of connectors needed throughout Southern California in order to save mountain lions for the future.
3. What’s happening out there that’s new for mountain lions? We need a new model to replace the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. I explain what it is and why it needs updating. I speak with Wildlife for All, an organization determined to change the present wildlife management model to be more inclusive. Panthera is studying non-lethal predator protection methods in California that will help ranchers throughout the West. Plus new information on the value of mountain lions for mitigating climate change and as an indicator species.
4. New stories sprinkled throughout the book along with updated and new information on mountain lion research.
5. Lastly, almost every photo in the book has been replaced with new ones. Many thanks to several photographers who are doing camera trapping with high-end equipment. Although I have hundreds of photos of mountain lions from over 14 years of using store-bought trail cameras, these images, though great quality for the internet, do not reproduce well in a book. Several professional photographers generously donated some extraordinary photos that will appear in the new edition. Unfortunately the paperback will not be in color.

That’s a summary of what’s new. I’m so pleased to have several new endorsements for this edition.

Author Dan Flores writes:  Leslie Patten has written the most fully-realized mountain lion book I have ever read. Cutting-edge science and interviews are her bedrock, but first Patten is an observer of the lion world as well as a writer whose prose pulls like a river’s current. 

Jim Williams M.S., retired Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks wildlife biologist and author of Path of the Puma writes: I finished your fantastic book today. Your penchant for unedited and unbridled truth to science is amazing.

Author Ben Goldfarb writes: In Ghostwalker, Leslie Patten braids history, biology, and wildlife management to reveal this elusive cat in all its contradictory glory 

I hope to do some presentations once the book comes out. If you or your organization would like to discuss this, please contact me.

Filed under: Cougars | Tagged: Cougars, mountain lions, Wildlife |