Think about it: a book is a collection of pages. The World Wide Web is a collection of "pages". Once you are comfortable with hypertext on line, why not customize your on shelf books in a similar manner?

Many field guides give you the whole of North America or all the species east or west of the Mississippi River, or the whole coast, north and south of Cape Cod. Usually this is still way too many species for the beginner, and half of them simply will not be likely where you are. Get out a high lighter and, consulting range maps, mark the species that actually occur in your state. Can you get check lists of species from the nearest National Park or natural history museum? (See Birder’s Resource Book, Stackpole Publishing, 1-800- ) It will also pay you to mark the season(s) in which the creature is likely to be seen where you are.

Books on streamside entomology are well known to flyfishers, but did you know there was one on FISH WATCHNG with binoculars? Maybe you already are a catch-and-release fisher. Flyfishers have known for some time that a trout is far to valuable to catch only once. And why limit this policy to looking at the top of the food chain? You could catch-and-release the entire food web from phytoplankton, tiny crustaceans, insect larvae, to the variety of small, sometimes quite colorful fish on which the large fish prey. With your plankton net and seine screens you can’t miss. guaranteed a catch. It ’s not quite TROUT UNLIMITED, but THE PLANKTON SOCIETY would link you to a global community of aficionados and you could contribute scientifically valuable data to research efforts. Plankton are pretty. Visit the California Academy of Science’s collection of diatoms and see for yourself.

But don't miss half the fun. Go out an get wet. See 'em live!

The pond or stream you visit is very likely to be a popular place for humans to visit. These "high-share" areas place special responsibilities on us. We can all become AMBASSADORS FOR WATER QUALITY. We no longer accept the idea that our country’s waterways are appropriately used as sewers.

Or do we? Or doo we? What do you do with your body wastes? For the latest scoop on poop see the book How to Shit in the Woods ( ) and check out the BAGGIE DOO SYSTEM.