The Deer of North America

by Leonard Lee Rue III

Book by Lee Rue III, Leonard

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals

544 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1989

Reviews

[Charlotte R.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with almost everything the author states in this book. Dinged a star because I completely disagree with his opinion that a “bulk” of forests should be clear-cut. No, no they shouldn’t. I could go on a very long diatribe as to why he’s wrong, and why we need to maintain stands of old-growth. But this is neither here nor there.

The main point is that clear-cutting creates stands of same age trees and thus the same garbage habitat that mono-crop agriculture does. Good for timber, bad for biodiversity. Old-growth contains a mix of age structure and thus more light through the canopy and increased biodiversity due to the stability of the environment. Disturbance benefits biomass and some opportunistic species but destroys biodiversity in the long run, and it is clear that the author would see any species not “productive” or useful to humans flounder into extinction. What sort of naturalist doesn’t believe all species have a right to exist, whether or not they are useful to people?

I was born and raised in the Tongass National Forest, and it was exploding with fauna and flora, contrary to what the author seems to believe. Clear-cuts there didn’t grow back very much even after 10 years, much less 2 years. And logging practices outside of the public eye are far from responsible.

The author’s attitude reeks of Manifest Destiny in this regard. The hubris that humans can manage nature better than nature itself, when nature has been doing it for hundreds of millions of years is ludicrous. Some aspects of environment, especially near civilization, have been changed by people and now require management but as for the rest, especially the remote areas, leave them be!

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes I get an itch to read books like this: old as dirt nonfiction about a specific animal that act more as a window of time than anything else.

I have a lot of respect for the author, even if I vehemently disagree with a lot of his positions (mainly on clear-cutting).

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative. Some parts drag on a bit with outdated statistics however other parts are very interesting and engaging. Would recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about deer.

[The Lady Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the 1970s version of this book so all the statistics are wrong now, but as far as information on anything you want to know about deer, this book is all you need.

I wish there was a glossary, though.... I didn't know what "yard up" meant.