Wolf Songs

Patrick Colgan is associate director of programs at the Canadian Museum
of Nature.

This book is not primarily about wolves themselves, but about their
relations with, and meaning for, humans. The editor provides appropriate
opening and closing essays on the long and unhappy association of our
two species. Between these are excerpts from 16 widely ranging works,
which indicate four dimensions of the subject.

First, there are classics such as Seton’s presentation of Lobo and
Farley Mowat’s humorous record of Barren Land wolves (but nothing from
Jack London). These are followed primarily by scientific reports that
describe Alaskan wolves, aspects of pack dynamics, feeding, senses, and
howling, among other things. Then there are personal accounts, including
the demise of a cattle-killer in the southwestern United States and the
joys and sadnesses of living with pet wolves or near packs. Finally,
there are considerations of wolves as icons of human unease with the
natural world that feature an 1856 quote from the chief of the Duwamish
Indians: “[the white man] sees and claims the world for himself and
fails to see that he is an integral part of the world.” Lists of
further readings and organizations dedicated to the conservation of
wolves are also included.

Works dealing with bioethics and conservation must always steer between
sentimentality and arrogance, and in this book a good balance is in fact
achieved. Wolf Songs will appeal to anyone interested in wolves,
conservation, and nature writing.