Touching the Wild

In Illumination in the Flatwoods, Joe Hutto unveiled the secret lives of wild turkeys to great critical acclaim, which resulted in the Emmy Award-winning PSB documentary My Life as a Turkey. Now Hutto has done it again. Touching the Wild is the enchanting story about one man who has lived with a herd of mule deer in the Rockies for almost seven years. Due to the intense curiosity of one groundbreaking deer, and the resulting introduction to an entire herd, Joe Hutto has been allowed unprecedented access and insight into the minds and behavior of this special animal. Spending every day embedded among the herd, he develops an uncanny connection with the deer, witnessing individual and group dynamics never before observed and recorded, unveiling just how much we have in common with these delicate beings. Each season brings joy as fawns are born, and heartache as hunters, predators, development, and a pollution all take their toll. The mule deer of the West are in trouble, and Hutto is their most fervent advocate. Touching the Wild is proof that we have so much to learn from wild animals about their world, ourselves, and the fragile planet we share. Full color photos throughout.

Joe Hutto is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, writer, and naturalist. He is the author such critically acclaimed books as Illumination in the Flatwoods and The Light in High Places, and wrote two award-winning films: My Life as a Turkey, and Touching the Wild, both PBS/Nature documentaries. He lived in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming in an historic ranch among the mule deer for nearly a decade. He now lives in the Florida Panhandle immersed in the stunning ecology of carnivorous plants.

Table of Contents Preface Part One: Some Interesting Mule Deer I Have Known Chapter 1: In the Beginning Chapter 2: And Along Came Rayme Chapter 3: An Inflorescence of Mule Deer Chapter 4: Peep's Diary Chapter 5: Anne of a Thousand Days Chapter 6: Living among the Mule Deer Chapter 7: And Then There Was Possum Chapter 8: The Babe Chapter 9: Making a Case for Mule Deer Miracles Chapter 10: Buck Friends Part Two: The Essential Mule Deer Chapter 11: Mule Deer vs. White-Tailed Deer Chapter 12: The Essential Mule Deer Chapter 13: High Society: Altruistic Does and Beneficent Bucks Chapter 14: World as Perceived by a Mule Deer Part Three: The Mule Deer in Crisis Chapter 15: The Predators Chapter 16: The Trouble with Mule Deer Chapter: 17: Updates on Old Friends Chapter 18: Provisions of Consciousness Epilogue