Reviews

The Hidden Life of Deer: Lessons from the Natural World by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

maryrobinson's review

2.0

Found this when I was looking for books to identify deer bones and was very intrigued. But the book turned out to be more about the author and her rational for feeding the deers at her home, dealing with hunting authorities and some other goofier stuff. She certainly knows deers but I would have liked to learn more about them too.

carlymac's review

emotional informative relaxing medium-paced

4.0

Enjoyable read! Writing was good, information was sound. Mostly about deer but of course other animals living on the same ecosystem were also explored. Glad I picked it up! 

sarrie's review

4.0

It is hard to rate this one. I really enjoyed the bits of information I picked up through this one, about facets and parts of animals lives, different ways of animal tracking, etc. The book was clearly very influenced by the author's own views and thoughts and contained those unashamedly. That's cool, and I agreed with a lot of them but it makes it hard to review since there were a few I didn't. And that's okay, to each his own.
For what it was, a summary of a woman feeding deer over the course of the winter and her observations, it was great. From what I gather she's quite good at what she does, which involves a lot of naturalist (is that the word?) work, so I respect her for it. I'll probably pick up her other books like this like the cats and dogs books. It was enjoyable and informative, and did make me think so I would recommend it if it sounds like something you'd like.

corar's review against another edition

2.0

In 2007, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas noticed that the oak trees around her home were not producing acorns. Worried that the local wildlife, espcially the deer and wild turkey, would be unable to survive a winter without this important food source, she began feeding them corn. During this season, she observed the behavior of the deer and learned a lot about them. I was hoping that I would learn a lot about them too by reading this book, unfortunately that was not the case. While her observations were interesting, often she strayed into assumptions and speculation as to why a deer was acting a certain way, not because it is what she observed but because that is how she would think if she was a deer. She also spent way too much time in the book justifying her reasons for feeding the wildlife despite the fact that the New Hampshire Fish and Wildlife agency strongly discourages the practice. I was disappointed that I did not learn more about the behavior and social structure of deer. I did not expect a scientific study or data, but I was hoping that the observations would be more than her guessing at the reasons they do something. I do have a background in wildlife biology, perhaps this book would be better for someone that loves animals that wants to read about someone else that loves animals and their enjoyment of viewing wildlife.

mmmmgreen's review against another edition

4.0

While the book focuses on the lives of the deer Thomas encountered the winter she began feeding them, it is so much more. She not only makes you care for the deer but for all the living creatures she encounters including a caterpillar, trees, and rats (okay, I didn't care for the rats!). She does acknowledge the Fish and Wildlife recommendations that people not feed the deer in her area but addresses each of their concerns and why she opted to do otherwise. I want to experience this appreciation of nature in all forms. Good read! And if there is an audiobook read by the author I will be listening to this as well!

katiemcdonough's review

1.0

I was actually bored by this and didn't finish it. Hard to imagine that someone could make a subject like this boring, but it was. I was very disappointed.