Ethology

i feel like reading some books about ethology, no particular idea what sort of thing yet, gonna go down to the library and have a browse this lunchtime. something with some depth but layman accessible i suppose, about the quiddity of being an animal or how they like to hang or existential animal issues? especially interested in social groupings and such but rugged individualists welcome.

any of you cats got any good book recommendations?

I don't think it's quite exactly ethology but E O Wilson's The Insect Societies might fit bill. It's non-pop-science, ice cold, but written very clearly & gives lots of detail on what all different sorts of bees, wasps, termites and ANTS get up to with their lives. Castes, gardening, farming, childcare etc etc. Large format, lots of b&w illustrations. I get it out of the library fairly regularly, peek into a terrifying inhuman universe.

sword and the stone iirc

Insect Societies sounds good cos sometimes on the bus i feel the terrifying inhuman universe surrounding me.

Borrowed Stephen Budiansky's If a Lion Could Talk from the library, looks pretty interesting. Minor style tics in the intro that I'm not sure about yet.