The Age of Deer

Trouble and Kinship with Our Wild Neighbors

By: Erika Howsare

Narrated by: Erika Howsare

Deer have been an important part of the world that humans occupy for millennia. They're one of the only large animals that can thrive in our presence. In the twenty-first century, our relationship is full of contradictions: We hunt and protect them, we cull them from suburbs while making them an icon of wilderness, we see them both as victims and as pests. But there is no doubt that we have a connection to deer: in mythology and story, in ecosystems biological and digital, in cities and in forests.

Delving into the historical roots of these tangled attitudes and how they play out in the present, Erika Howsare observes scientists capture and collar fawns, hunters show off their trophies, a museum interpreter teaching American history while tanning a deer hide, an animal-control officer collecting the carcasses of deer killed by sharpshooters, and a woman bottle-raising orphaned fawns in her backyard. As she reports these stories, Howsare's eye is always on the bigger picture: Why do we look at deer in the ways we do, and what do these animals reveal about human involvement in the natural world? For fans of H is for Hawk and Fox & I, The Age of Deer offers a unique and intimate perspective on a very human relationship.

©2024 Erika Howsare (P)2024 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Very thorough and wide reaching

Very impressed with the depth of the subject. Learned way more than I expected. Would recommend it to other people. Unfortunately narrator’s voice was not appealing. Kind of had a grinding sound where I felt voice would’ve been better more neutral or a little more upbeat, but that’s my personal opinion. However, thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed the book the content.

Compelling, well researched and thought provoking.

Thought provoking and illuminating narrative about the consequences human actions have on wildlife. This is an excellent listen and the author/narrator provides a good balance between science, culture and her emotions - no easy task when it comes to any contentious topic one feels compelled toward.

buy the physical copy

I loved the writing, the story, the content...I did not love the narration of the audio book. This book is absolutely worth the read with thought provoking stories and a beautiful writing style. The audio reading of the book does not do it justice. Best to pick up a physical copy of this one in my opinion.

Thorough, beautifully written and heartbreaking

An amazing in-depth accounting of the human deer relationship through time, from depictions of grandeur in art, the exploitation and near extinction of the species by white settlers by the end of the nineteenth century, followed by attempts to rebuild populations yet also manage them through human interventions.