The Norton Book of Nature Writing has several pieces of writings that are beautiful in many ways and also has several pieces of writings that aren’t as good. Some of the writings are very easy to read whereas a lot of others are found to be very hard to read and understand. I have chosen to write about three different stories by three different writers that have a little similarity to them but also have their differences as well. The first is “Enemies of the Farmer,” by Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, which is a great story about the yearly animals and insects that can affect farmers and their crops year round in a good way and also in many bad ways. The next story I chose is a little smaller and simpler than the first is “The Hedgehog,” by John Leonard Knapp. This story was chosen only because of the few quotes that he has made in the story comparing man and animal and humans can treat some animals. The last story that I have chosen to write about is “Friends, Foes, and Working Animals,” by Gretel Ehrlich. This story in my opinion is probably the best in the entire Norton Book of Nature Writing. None of these three stories are exactly the same, but all three share similar morals and values for the love of nature and the animals in it.
In “Enemies of the Farmer,” Hector writes about animals and insects that can affect a farmer’s life in a good and bad way. He talks about the blackbird which will eat their corn and is so smart that once you try to poison the corn in one spot they will stop eating it and move on to another crop to eat. The blackbird will eat every bit of their crop if they don’t watch them and regulate their population by shooting them. Just as much as the blackbird hurts the farmers it
also helps them by killing other birds that may eat their crops like owls and many other flying birds. Blackbirds are very aggressive and territorial when it comes to other birds trying to fly in their domain. Other animals that Hector discusses throughout the...