Judy has been rescuing, raising, and rehabilitating Montana wildlife for almost 50 years. In that time, she and her rehabber friends cared for thousands of different animals, the majority being birds. The animals demonstrated behaviors scientists claimed they don't do or are incapable of doing. For example, the beautiful female Long-eared Owl who came back to ask her human mom for help when she had trouble catching enough mice for her youngsters, or the fledgling Red Crossbills who proved to science how they make their bills cross. There are also stories about adorable babies like a tiny badger with a white heart on her nose, the little fox with a broken leg and how she found help, and several darling bear cubs and their accomplishments. Many other animals did remarkable things as youngsters or after they grew up, as their stories show. When Judy told people about the amazing behaviors shown by birds and other animals, they often said she should write a book, so she began keeping notes. What Judy and her colleagues saw and experienced predated but verify recent findings by researchers which show that mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and other animals (including insects) act intelligently, often work with others, have friendships, are adaptable, exhibit compassion, and have individual personalities. These qualities, in research subjects and those animals whose stories are told in Amazing Wildlife, strongly indicate we have only begun to scratch the surface regarding the remarkable abilities of other species with which we share the planet.
About the Author: Judy Hoy grew up on a cattle ranch and began interacting with domestic animals at a young age, raising and training horses, caring for and milking dairy cows and raising chickens, geese and other fowl. She also watched the wild animals on the ranch, learning all their names and where they lived. She began her adult career as an elementary school teacher and taught in grades 4 through 6 for 12 years. She also was a wildlife artist, until spending all of her spare time researching wildlife. She is a full time wildlife rehabber, from which the observations detailed in the book Amazing Wildlife were obtained over nearly 50 years. Judy's husband, Bob, is a wildlife biologist and worked until he retired as a game warden for Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. They often go to National Parks and Wildlife Refuges to watch the wildlife interactions. Judy has written a previous book, Changing Faces, to help bring attention to the multiple birth defects and serious health effects now occurring on newborns of vertebrate and invertebrate species.