"I can remember walking through shallow, alkaline ponds as a boy, seeing great schools of fish scatter before me, rippling the surface of the warm waters. But then I discovered that these were not fish but salamanders -- Tiger Salamanders, top dogs of the pond world."

Sydney Cannings, Richard Cannings and Robert Cannings explore in depth the physical and natural diversity of B.C's freshwater habitats. Because of British Columbia's mountainous terrain, much of the water in the province moves down-hill, tumbling and turning towards the sea. Moving water contains a variety of life from the larval stone-flies, mayflies and caddisflies that cling to rocks to the Harlequin Ducks that court and nest along fast-moving mountain streams. There are over sixteen thousand lakes in the province. On an imaginary canoe trip around a lake, the authors introduce us to cattails and bulrushes, Spotted Frogs and Western Toads, and, of course, the rich bounty of insect life, including jewel-like dragonflies. Last, but not least, there are the bogs and fens of the province, filled with mosses and other plants, and the hot springs scattered through-out the mountains of British Columbia.

This is a new release of the book published in March 2000.

Gordon Gibson is an author and politician, with articles having appearing in the Vancouver Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press. He has also received the Order of British Columbia.

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