Charles Fergus

The author tells of his summer spent in an isolated Icelandic farmhouse with his wife and young son, where he learns of his mother's murder at her home in Pennsylvania

A Season at the Edge of the World

Summer at Little Lava

Nighthawk's Wing

Describes the different species, behavior, breeding, hunting ability, and encounters with humans of the black bear.

Bears

The northeastern United States is home to an enormous variety of mushrooms - some delicious, some deadly. This handy in-the-field guide offers identification information for some 50 mushrooms that mushroom hunters are most likely to encounter in the wild: Parasol Mushroom, Delicious Lactarius, Sulphur Shelf, Giant Puffball. It also features detailed photos illustrating the characteristics to look for when identifying mushrooms and natural history information - where they grow, when they appear, and the various forms they take. This handy identification guide features the "foolproof five" and includes a useful identification flowchart.

Common Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms of the Northeast

** "Set in 1836, Fergus’s superior sequel . . . brings the period to life as he expertly melds setting and plot." Starred Publishers Weekly ** For Fans of Madeline Miller and Geraldine Brooks, and Historical Mysteries Involving Witchcraft, Second Sight, and Amish, Mennonite, and Pennsylvania Dutch Communities. In this thrilling second in the Gideon Stoltz Mystery series that Booklist called “An appealing debut that deserves a boost from enthusiastic hand-sellers,” it’s now 1836 in the fast-growing town of Adamant. The young Pennsylvania Dutch sheriff Gideon has a new case when a beautiful woman—suspected of witchcraft and residing in a nearby German settlement—is murdered. Suffering from a head injury after a fall off his horse, Gideon can’t recall anything that happened at the time of the woman’s death. As flashes of memory return, he realizes that not only did he know the victim, he was with her the night she died. As Gideon delves into the investigation, he must include himself in the list of suspects. When Gideon uncovers another dead body, he’s launched on a path to discover the truth, no matter the outcome. Gideon’s estranged wife, True, has her own reluctant methods of investigation. Gifted with unwelcome powers of second sight, True realizes that her husband’s life is in danger—and puts her own life on the line to save him. Nighthawk’s Wing unflinchingly examines the oppressed status of women in the 1830 and like the first in the series, it has “an atmospheric setting and a strong sense of place” (Library Journal). Nighthawk’s Wing beckons all readers who crave authenticity in early American historical novels, including those intrigued by witchcraft, spells, and visions. This compelling mystery glides along the edge between the gritty reality of the early 1800s and —a parallel world of spirits and haunted souls.

A Gideon Stoltz Mystery

For fans of C.J. Box's Joe Pickett series, a fabulous historical mystery series set in early America. “Deeply imagined and intricately plotted, A Stranger Here Below marries richly textured historical fiction with the urgency of a mystery novel. Fergus knows certain things, deep in the bone: horses, hunting, the folkways of rural places, and he weaves this wisdom into a stirring tale.” – Geraldine Brooks, author of March and People of the Book Set in 1835 in the Pennsylvania town of Adamant, Fergus’s first novel in a new mystery series introduces Sheriff Gideon Stoltz, who, as a young deputy, is thrust into his position by the death of the previous sheriff. Gideon faces his first real challenge as death rocks the small town again when the respected judge Hiram Biddle commits suicide. No one is more distraught than Gideon, whom the old judge had befriended as a mentor and hunting partner. Gideon is regarded with suspicion as an outsider: he’s new to town, and Pennsylvania Dutch in the back-country Scotch-Irish settlement. And he found the judge’s body. Making things even tougher is the way the judge’s death stirs up vivid memories of Gideon’s mother’s murder, the trauma that drove him west from his home in the settled Dutch country of eastern Pennsylvania. He had also discovered her body. At first Gideon simply wants to learn why Judge Biddle killed himself. But as he finds out more about the judge’s past, he realizes that his friend's suicide was spurred by much more than the man’s despair. Gideon’s quest soon becomes more complex as it takes him down a dangerous path into the past. A Stranger Here Below is so atmospheric, so compelling and convincing, that readers will taste the grit of the dirt roads, cringe at the unsanitary conditions and medical superstitions that inflame a flu epidemic, and marvel at the immensely arduous task of carrying out an investigation using the primitive tools of the early 1800s. Fergus leaves us breathlessly waiting for the next Gideon Stoltz mystery.

A Stranger Here Below

As a government-backed expedition makes its way west--sent to America's Indian reservations to extol the virtues of U.S. citizenship--photographs of the poor conditions on the reservations, the work of someone in the expedition, make their way into D.C. papers

A Novel

Shadow Catcher

Amelia Hansen

Natural history narratives for more than 300 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians found in Pennsylvania and throughout the northeastern United States-written in an engaging, straightforward style. An invaluable addition to any nature-lover's library. Each narrative offers a species description as well as up-to-date information on habitat, breeding behavior, feeding habits, biology, migration, and current population status, as well as the author's personal observations of the animal's life in the wild. Includes game and nongame mammals, birds of prey, songbirds, waterfowl, snakes, turtles, frogs, toads, and more.

Wildlife of Pennsylvania and the Northeast

A fairly comprehensive and detailed look at turtles.

Turtles

Make a Home for Wildlife helps you see your property in new ways and is the resource you need to improve the quality of your land. Focusing on the eastern US, this book describes basic habitat types, from forests to wetlands, and highlights native and introduced trees, shrubs, and plants that you can use to help wildlife make a home on your land.

Creating Habitat on Your Land Backyard to Many Acres

Make a Home for Wildlife

"Whether the panther survives or perishes, Fergus has written a book that does it full justice. His narrative is lively and full of anecdotes, some of them eye-openers."--Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post "As good as, or better than, any book I've read in years about the awful and willful ignorance of homo sapiens about the living world."--Farley Mowat, author of Never Cry Wolf "Charles Fergus [is] a diligent reporter and straightforward writer. . . . You will enjoy [his] descriptions of forays into panther territory."--Kathleen Krog, Miami Herald The Florida panther is an endangered species, its way of life altered by the spread of suburban culture across the state. In Swamp Screamer, Charles Fergus tracks the fifty or so panthers that survive in Florida, vividly describing the people trying to save these remarkable creatures--including wildlife biologists trying to preserve panther habitat and radical animal lovers who regard the panther as a symbol of their crusade on behalf of nature. Swamp Screamer is a surprising and often comic look at the wildlife movement today; it is also an evocative history of the vanishing wilds of Florida and a deeply affecting portrait of the panthers themselves. Charles Fergus has written six books, including the novel Shadow Catcher; a collection of essays, The Wingless Crow; and a memoir, A Rough-Shooting Dog. He lives in a stone house that he built himself on a mountainside in central Pennsylvania.

At Large with the Florida Panther

Swamp Screamer

Contains information on over thirty breeds of hunting dogs, provides assistance in choosing the right animal, and covers the history, characteristics, and field capabilities of hunting dogs.

A Guide to Spaniels, Retrievers, and Pointing Dogs

Gun Dog Breeds

Little Lava is a farm on the west coast of Iceland. No roads lead to it; the way lies across a lagoon flooded twice a day by the tide. A lava field borders the farm. From the house, views give onto mountains, volcanoes, rugged coast, and the pure Icelandic sky. In Summer at Little Lava, Charles Fergus tells how he fixed up an abandoned house on the farm and spent a summer there with his wife and their young son-living day to day in great simplicity, without heat, electricity, running water, or other conveniences. Inspired by Henry Beston's classic book, The Outermost House-about a year Beston spent living in a cottage on Cape Cod-Fergus sought a place at the outer limits of civilization, and on the coast of Iceland he found it. As it happened, there was a sudden death in his family-the cruel, pointless murder of his mother at her home in Pennsylvania; and so, in the twilit open spaces of Iceland, Fergus confronted his grief, in the midst of the country's abundant wildlife and distinctive geology, its history and mythology. The little house on the coast became a refuge as he sought to recover himself and the meaning of his life. "Little Lava was a place where I could pass the days in peace," he tells us, "where I could take the first steps into a future that, I hoped, would not be so dimmed with grief and pain." Summer at Little Lava is a wise and vigilant book. It touches on Iceland and Icelanders, birds and nature, tragedy and personal loss; in strong, resonant prose, it evokes the strange and compelling landscape of Iceland.

"A collection of thirty-three essays on Pennsylvania wildlife, science, and country living"--Provided by publisher.

The Wingless Crow

A Rough-Shooting Dog is the compelling account of a man and his best friend--an English springer spaniel named Jenny. The author chronicles the training and first hunting season of his beloved canine friend and hunting companion, taking the reader into the field in pursuit of woodcock, pheasant, and grouse--noting that the two are a team and must work closely together in order to be successful hunters. Fergus discusses the roughshoots: cattail slough, beaver pond, alder jungle, and old orchards--all the while teaching the reader a little about life. It is a book about the dramas, joys, and frustrations of hunting with a dog--and a reflection about land, wildlife, and the ways in which these facets of the natural world can be experienced fully through upland bird hunting. A Rough-Shooting Dog won't disappoint.

Reflections from Thick and Uncivil Sorts of Places

A Rough-Shooting Dog

For years, Charles Fergus chronicled his outdoor activities in the Pennsylvania Game News' popular 'Thornapples' column and other magazines. Some of the best of his writings are now collected in this illustrated volume. Following a fox, gathering nuts, watching fireflies, tracking a bear, listening to peepers, hunting deer, searching for giant trees, camping alone -- a year of adventures and rambles in the natural world, all described in vivid detail and filled with the timeless spirit of the great outdoors.

The Comings, Goings, and Outdoor Doings of a Naturalist

Thornapples

For fans of C.J. Box's Joe Pickett series, a fabulous historical mystery series set in early America. Set in 1835 in the Pennsylvania town of Adamant, Fergus’s first novel in a new mystery series introduces Sheriff Gideon Stoltz, who, as a young deputy, is thrust into his position by the death of the previous sheriff. Gideon faces his first real challenge as death rocks the small town again when the respected judge Hiram Biddle commits suicide. No one is more distraught than Gideon, whom the old judge had befriended as a mentor and hunting partner. Gideon is regarded with suspicion as an outsider: he’s new to town, and Pennsylvania Dutch in the back-country Scotch-Irish settlement. And he found the judge’s body. Making things even tougher is the way the judge’s death stirs up vivid memories of Gideon’s mother’s murder, the trauma that drove him west from his home in the settled Dutch country of eastern Pennsylvania. He had also discovered her body. At first Gideon simply wants to learn why Judge Biddle killed himself. But as he finds out more about the judge’s past, he realizes that his friend's suicide was spurred by much more than the man’s despair. Gideon’s quest soon becomes more complex as it takes him down a dangerous path into the past. A Stranger Here Below is so atmospheric, so compelling and convincing, that readers will taste the grit of the dirt roads, cringe at the unsanitary conditions and medical superstitions that inflame a flu epidemic, and marvel at the immensely arduous task of carrying out an investigation using the primitive tools of the early 1800s. Fergus leaves us breathlessly waiting for the next Gideon Stoltz mystery.

Natural history narratives for more than 375 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians found in Virginia and Maryland.

Wildlife of Virginia and Maryland and Washington, D.C.

Throughout Pennsylvania, within the state forest system, are 61 officially designated Natural Areas, each offering a bit of wildness deemed worthy of protection: rare-bird breeding sites, stands of old-growth trees, fragile wetlands, ice age remnants, mineral-rich mountainsides. To experience first-hand the unique features of each natural area, nature writer Charles Fergus spent a year visiting all 61. In this information-filled book, he reports on what he found, offering readers a guided tour of some of natural Pennsylvania's most distinctive places. He also provides information on how to visit the areas, each of which is open to the public.

Charles Fergus

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