I think I preferred the premise of this more than the execution. I enjoyed Bradshaw's attempts at showing that animals are not mere automatons in a different way than other books have tried, but ultimately I don't think she was terribly convincing at times (I don't need to be convinced, but others do). The subjects were surface level at times and I was hoping that there would be more depth to the discussion. I also felt as though the book could have been shorter and more to the point.

Its publisher describes this book as an: unprecedented scientific journey into the minds and experiences of grizzlies, sharks, rattlesnakes, crocodiles and other carnivores, and I can totally affirm the accuracy of that description.

In its fascinating and informative pages we learn that: …great white sharks express tender maternal feelings, rattlesnakes make friends, orcas abide by an ancient moral code, and much more. These creatures we have been conditioned to think of not only as 'the other' but as one-dimensional beings whose only attributes are that they are fierce and scary and potentially dangerous to human life are, in fact, as complex and multi-dimensional as we are, and share the rainbow of emotions that humans experience, including psychological trauma.

The reader will probably be surprised to discover that in many cases, if not most, those creatures upon whom we have projected the 'bad guy' image are not in the least interested in attacking humans. There are a few exceptions, but, apart from defending themselves or their young when they are cornered or threatened, most carnivores prefer to avoid human company altogether and get on with their lives in peace.

So why does the myth persist, in so many quarters, that these animals—wolves, rattlesnakes, grizzly bears, pumas etc.—are a threat to life, limb and livelihood and need to be exterminated?

It seems that sadly, an atavistic yearning for the hunt that lingers in certain quarters of the human population has created a highly lucrative industry, particularly in North America, that has a vested interest in maintaining the myth of the dangerous-to-humans predator who is also a threat to livestock (and thus to profits).

The author maintains that even the prohibition against feeding brown bears, which is standard policy in America's National and State parks, may have less to do with ursine wellbeing than with this cultural need to maintain the stereotype of bears as dangerous creatures. I had not thought of it this way before. To be sure, we are doing the bears a favour by keeping them from ingesting non nutritious junk food. But in my experience every campground and picnic area in the world has its resident 'moochers', whether blackbirds, raccoons, squirrels, or whatever (I've seen sandwiches whisked away by gulls, pelicans, emus, kangaroos, kookaburras and monkeys, to name just a few) yet much less effort is expended on warning visitors against feeding those non- 'dangerous' species. And unlike bears, they are normally not forcibly removed, relocated or killed for their begging habits.

Even if all this book gave us was a set of deep insights into the emotional lives of carnivores it would be both interesting and useful. However, its message about the stereotyping of predators and the ecological imbalances that have historically occurred—and are still occurring—from our 'war' against them is also one that everyone needs to hear.

Thirdly, another major point which every reader should find deeply troubling is that in an alarming number of cases the normative behavioural and social patterns of whole animal communities have been not only temporarily but permanently altered by what humans have done to them.

Following on from the discovery that many African elephants are exhibiting atypical dysfunctional behaviour arising from human-caused post traumatic stress, it has recently been shown that the same thing is happening in various carnivore populations. The new science of epigenetics tells us that dysfunctional behaviour patterns can be—and in fact are being—inherited. So, because of our interference, certain pathological behaviours are now being documented in populations where they had almost never occurred before.

The author's overall aim, with this book, is: to compel scientists and non-scientists alike to openly accept that we are kin with the finned, feathered, furred, and scaled. Once the distorting lens of modernity is set aside, any outward differences between herbivore and carnivore fade in the glaring light of similarity. Like the elephant, the animal eater can be flooded with emotions. Like the elephant, the puma shares tender moments with friends and family, and like the elephant, the crocodile exercises keen intelligence and restraint and basks in nature's caressing sunlight. And, like those of the elephants, carnivore minds will, when tormented, contract into the oblivion of the inescapable psychic pain for which no amount of learning and evolution can prepare. Their souls are as susceptible to betrayal as any human victim's.

So often, the blame for that lies at our feet. We need to change our attitudes. That's why books like this are so important.

An educational text trying to change the way we think and feel about animals we consider predators. Using science, new concepts and compelling theories this is a very interesting read.

<b> Carnivore Minds </b> is an excellent work that attempts to change the culture of fear surrounding animals we classify as predators. To do this Bradshaw examines neuroscientific, psychological, and psychiatric literate to explain why animals act the way they do and the reasons we have unjustly villainized animals such as Grizzly Bears and Sharks.

It is a remarkable educational text, grounded in scientific literate that introduces new concepts and compelling theories.

I get that carnivores are often misunderstood. I get that they may have virtues we don't want to attribute to them. I get that their well-being is critical for our planet and that they are threatened. But this book has so many faults in its writing and conception, that even sympathetic readers like me will be put off by it. Essentially the author has written a book of extreme "Animals good, people bad" philosophy, so much so that only those who agree with her position will be able to stand it.

In each chapter she takes a carnivore, from rattlesnakes to pumas, and looks at one characteristic, showing how this animal demonstrates it. For example, grizzly bears are examined for maternal care. The chapters are liberally laced with first person quotes of folks who have encountered the beasts closely, showing how this characteristic plays out. In other chapters, the animals characters are compared to those of human societies, often primative, that display the same characteristic.

That's all well and good, but running throughout is an unwritten message that modern society is bad and has been getting worse for centuries. While she's quick to applaud advancements in science that allow her to assert that animal and human brains have identical structures, like most polemicists she doesn't see the disconnect between the technology she applauds and the society she condemns.

And if that wasn't enough to turn you off, her writing style is confused at best. Supposedly this is a book for the general reader, not a book for scientists. Most of the time her prose is fine for her audience. Far too often, however, she has sentences or paragraphs that are full of scientific jargon. They are so packed with technical terms that I find myself skipping over them, and I'm no stranger to the terms.

The jargon-filled passages are bad enough, but she constantly uses a scientific word when there is a perfectly acceptable regular English synonym. For example if my pets were dogs instead of cats, I might not know what an "obligate carnivore" is. She doesn't bother to tell us that they are exclusively meat eaters. It's a problem you find all too often in technical books. Just because the term is common in my specialized field, doesn't mean the rest of the world is familiar with it.

The redrawing of our picture of carnivores is something that needs to happen. It's a book that needs to be written. But it needs to be a better one than this.

I wanted to love this book - but, even though I'm well-educated, and reasonably well-informed, I found the writing to be more obstructive than informative; couldn't find my way to a 'narrative' that would draw me in; and gave up fairly quickly (about a third of the way?) through the book. Written for a more academic audience than I am.