THE RHINO WITH GLUE-ON SHOES: And Other Surprising True Stories of Zoo Vets and Their Patients. By Drs. Lucy Spelman and Ted Mashima. Delacorte Press. 310 pages. $22.
The Rhino With Glue-On Shoes is a great title for this fun and entertaining collection of short stories about wild animals and their unwanted dealings with humans. Drs. Lucy Spelman and Ted Mashima, both veterinarians, have compiled these engaging anecdotes from some of their favorite wild- and zoo-animal veterinarians. And, yes, one such anecdote does include a rhinoceros with glue-on shoes.
Also included in the book are misadventures encountered while attempting to secure whale sharks from the Taiwanese government for the Georgia Aquarium and a visit from an American veterinarian to China in an attempt save one of China's most beloved pandas. The North Carolina Zoo's own beloved chimp "Hondo" makes an amusing appearance as well. The plight of the dolphins moved to a hotel swimming pool after Hurricane Katrina is reported in detail by one of the veterinarians responsible for ultimately moving them on to a safer locale.
Even while dealing with technical procedures, the authors manage to keep the terminology in easy-to-read layman's terms. This, along with the short-story format, lends the book to easy summer reading; it can be picked up and read for short periods at a time. The center of the book contains 16 pages of photographs of the animal patients discussed in the various chapters. North Carolina is well represented in the concise biographies of veterinarian authors that follow each story. Many of the professionals completed their post-doctoral training at N. C. State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and several worked at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro.
Zoo-animal veterinarians are often viewed as a bit of an oddity, even among other veterinarians. They risk their very lives in a valiant effort to diagnose and treat our planet's most unusual species. Their patients are sometimes as small as a 1-inch dung beetle and other times as large as a 5,000-pound rhinoceros.
One amazing aspect of the veterinarians who care for these animals is their ability to see beyond national and political borders. They are willing to go anywhere to offer their aid and expertise, and they are willing to seek out advice from those who, in another setting, might be viewed as "unfriendly." It is encouraging to realize that people with differing political views can still come together to save an animal in need. For this reason, as well as the conservation aspects of the stories, I asked my 12-year-old son to read the book and found that he enjoyed it as much as I did. The whole family can share in the adventures brought to the pages of The Rhino With Glue-On Shoes.
■ Cindy Bunker is a free-lance writer who lives in Lexington.
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