The Beast in the Garden: A Modern Parable of Man and Nature.

• Author: Keefover-Ring, Wendy J.
• Position: Book Review

Discussions about nature and culture are imperative where large carnivores are concerned. Author David Baron begins to explore these important ideas in The Beast in the Garden: A Modern Parable of Man and Nature (Beast in the Garden. (B1) While his premise shows promise, the execution lacks vigor. Instead of a treatise carefully based on well-reasoned conclusions of fact, where subjective sources are objectively interrogated, and where declaratory statements are well documented, Beast in the Garden exhibits fundamental deficiencies. Indeed, a narrative form of writing, while engaging (and an obviously effective sales device), can lead to evidentiary problems. (B2) Narratives oversimplify and historians now avoid them. As historian John Tosh writes, "[b]ecause B came after A does not mean that A caused B, but the flow of the narrative may easily convey the impression that it did." (B3) Tosh also notes that narratives only allow the writer to "keep no more than two or three threads going at once," resulting in a narrowing of causes and effects. (B4) In other words, narratives can result in under-analytical outcomes. (B5) Moreover, in scientific methodology, the investigator acquires knowledge supported by empirical data gathered through observation and experimentation. Scientists often review information from other researchers to understand the theoretical context of their own inquiry. An investigation based on hearsay or anecdotal evidence counters the scientific method.

Without a doubt, Baron spent considerable energy researching and interviewing in preparation to write Beast in the Garden. His engaging style and descriptive language keeps one turning the pages, but unfortunately his methodologies cause the quality of his arguments to suffer. In this debate about humans and lions, science, history, and culture, I offer these final words.

Baron still has failed to prove his fundamental thesis: that a Boulder-based lion killed Lancaster. Baron writes in A Response to Mountain Lions, Myths, and Media that dispersing subadult lions generally travel an average distance of 50 miles from their natal areas (in search of their own home range). (B6) Indeed, if one were to draw a 50-mile circumference around Idaho Springs, Boulder would be Included. Suitable lion habitat, however, exists nearly all the way around Idaho Springs' 50-mile radius. Because people did not shoot lions or deer in and around Boulder in the 1980s or 1990s, it does not follow...