EVER CRY WOLF

by Farley Mowat ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 30, 1963

A wolf tale of marvelously satisfying proportions finds Farley Mowat in the midst of Keewatin Barren Lands on a mission for the Canadian Wildlife Service establishing contact with ""the study species"", canis lupus. The orders from Ottawa, and the supplies, didn't quite cover the situation but our man made out. He found shelter with half Eskimo Mike and his fourteen huskies (but found the going strong come the spring thaw), then moved in as a neighbor to a wolf family nearby. As he made the acquaintance of George, Angelique, Uncle Albert and the four pups, he learned to wolf nap, to establish his territory in wolf fashion, and to solace himself with wolf juice (a Churchill brew cum ethyl alcohol). He also lost his fear and became fond and admiring of his wolves, whom he finds much maligned in polite society. The domestic activities, the sport and work of the wolves gave the lie to the notion that they were merciless predators, ruining the caribou herds. As his Eskimo friend Oolak said, ""The caribou feeds the wolf, but it is the wolf who keeps the caribou strong""--able only, as he is, to outrun the sick or weak member of a herd. (In the summertime, wolves hunt and feed on mice.) The real predators, Mowat found, were the traders and airplane ""safaris"" that butcher the animals after massing them on the ice. His high good humor turns to ice, his jibes at officialdom suddenly jell in a chilling epitaph that tells of the placing of strychnine by the den at Wolf House Bay in the winter of 1958-59, when the Canadian Wildlife Service activated its wolf control policy with poison. The author of The Dog Who Wouldn't Be is in top form.

Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1963

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown-A.M.P.

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1963

Categories: NONFICTION