March 2012

The book by Valentin Sergeevich Pazhetnov “My life in the forest and at home”has been published. In it, the author, Doctor of Biological Sciences, a well-known expert on bears, tells about his life, about working as a commercial hunter in Siberia on the Yenisei, and about how it turned out that he became a scientist engaged in saving, raising and releasing into nature bear cubs left without a mother. The return of cubs to nature is an incredibly difficult and troublesome task, because small cubs, like any babies, require constant professional care. On the one hand, it is necessary to take care of tiny live lumps, which the cubs get to the station, almost as much as for human babies, and on the other, it should be done so that they are afraid of a person and everything connected with him. They must remain wild and at the same time be able to do everything that their peers who live in nature can do, because after graduation they will have an independent life. In total, Valentin Sergeevich raised and released more than 160 cubs.

A few years ago, this book was published in a tiny edition and with a minimum of illustrations. Nevertheless, it found the most lively response among wildlife lovers because of the sincerity of the narrative, subtle observations of nature, clear language. There is something in it that is so lacking in modern life – simplicity and truth. Getting into the Siberian taiga with the author, you will learn not only about nature and hunting, but also about the life and everyday life of people in a Siberian village in the sixties. And sometimes you learn downright mystical things, for example, how old fishermen went to die in the taiga. They did not die in the taiga, but went to die…

The circulation of the new edition is one thousand copies. The print is black and white. The volume is 557 pages. The book is hardcover, with many photos, and a large number of paintings and graphic works by Vadim Gorbatov, who has long been a strong friend of the author of the book.