Life Everlasting

The Animal Way of Death

By: Bernd Heinrich

Narrated by: Rick Adamson

From one of the finest naturalists and writers of our time, a fascinating investigation of Nature’s inspiring death-to-life cycle.

How does the animal world deal with death? And what ecological and spiritual lessons can we learn from examining this? Bernd Heinrich has long been fascinated by these questions, and when a good friend with a terminal illness asked if he might have his “green burial” at Heinrich’s hunting camp in Maine, it inspired the acclaimed biologist and author to investigate. Life Everlasting is the fruit of those investigations, illuminating what happens to animals great and small after death.

From beetles to bald eagles, ravens to wolves, Heinrich reveals the fascinating and mostly hidden post-death world that occurs around us constantly, while examining the ancient and important role we too play as scavengers, connecting death to life.

“Bernd Heinrich is one of the finest naturalists of our time. Life Everlasting shines with the authenticity and originality that are unique to a life devoted to natural history in the field.”—Edward O. Wilson, author of The Future of Life and The Social Conquest of Earth

""Despite focusing on death and decay, Life Everlasting is far from morbid; instead, it is life-affirming . . . convincing the reader that physical demise is not an end to life, but an opportunity for renewal.""—Nature

“A worldwide tour of the role of death in nature that is consistently fascinating and fun to read.”—Seattle Times

This book made me love biology even more!!

This book was written very well and explained every subject very well!! My favorite part of the book was the flesh eating beetles and how they couldn’t live and reproduce without dead mice and small things like that! if that doesn’t grab one’s attention, I don’t know what will!!

Fascinating book about new life coming from old.

If you love nature you will love this book. A series of studies on decomposition and the creatures that assist it.

Deceived .

Surprised it had nothing to do with animals way of dying. Only about animals being eaten after they die.

Narrator is boring.