when the snow melts? What's the maximum number of people the earth can hold? These and many other quirky questions about the natural world are answered in this all-new collection from Outside magazine's wildly popular "Wild File" columna space where readers' questions about natural science and outdoor lore are answered with the help of scientists, expert outdoorsmen, and professors. Both fun and thorough, these essays probe the curiosities that we never even knew we wanted to know, such as: Why can't bats fly straight? What are sea legs? Why don't woodpeckers get headaches? To answer these and many more questions, the author tracks down and interviews the experts behind each question posed: authorities in camelid biology, elephant psychology, leech behavior, ball lightening, and the biochemistry of "gamy" meat, to name a few. 45 black-and-white illustrations

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