About This Book:
An engrossing and revealing study of why we deem certain animals “pests” and others not—from cats to rats, elephants to pigeons—and what this tells us about our own perceptions, beliefs, and actions, as well as our place in the natural world
A squirrel in the garden. A rat in the wall. A pigeon on the street. Humans have spent so much of our history drawing a hard line between human spaces and wild places. When animals pop up where we don’t expect or want them, we respond with fear, rage, or simple annoyance. It’s no longer an animal. It’s a pest.
At the intersection of science, history, and narrative journalism, Pests is not a simple call to look closer at our urban ecosystem. It’s not a natural history of the animals we hate. Instead, this book is about us. It’s about what calling an animal a pest says about people, how we live, and what we want. It’s a story about human nature, and how we categorize the animals in our midst, including bears and coyotes, sparrows and snakes. Pet or pest? In many cases, it’s entirely a question of perspective.
Bethany Brookshire’s deeply researched and entirely entertaining book will show readers what there is to venerate in vermin, and help them appreciate how these animals have clawed their way to success as we did everything we could to ensure their failure. In the process, we will learn how the pests that annoy us tell us far more about humanity than they do about the animals themselves.
My Thoughts After Reading:
I am a fiction reader or so I always thought. But here I am recommending my second nonfiction read on this blog.
Pests, I imagine, is going to make me annoying in social situations. In a month’s time, I’ve already casually dropped anecdotes from the book three times—1. to my neighbor attempting to protect his cedar siding from a persistent woodpecker; 2. to my sister-in-law preemptively plotting a garden thieving chipmunks’ demise; and 3. to my husband preparing for Wisconsin’s spring turkey season. It will be a book I recommend any time “pests” come up in conversation.
While we have a physical copy of Pests in our collection, I highly recommend listening to the audiobook read by Courtney Patterson (available with your library card on Hoopla). Listening, I felt like I was back in a college lecture hall (not snoring but absorbing each word).
This book is meticulously researched – you’ll learn about specific species, natural history, cultural differences and more. And yet, it is also incredibly accessible – you’ll be laughing at Brookshire’s quips and mini stories throughout.
What I liked most was the examination of double standards. Why is it acceptable to kill thousands of invasive pythons in the everglades but killing thousands of stray cats in the suburbs is unimaginable? Both are a human-caused problem. Both are considered pets sometimes. Both are killing native wildlife. Full transparency—I still don’t like the idea of culling cats (I love cats!) but I enjoy how this book makes me question my assumptions and reactions.
In just under 300 pages, Brookshire will change your perspective on “pests”.
– Michelle
