h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

hullo again, mr old wolf, sir.

I enjoyed the article very much, especially the literary quotes. One of my favorite books is "never cry wolf!" by Farley Mowat. Ole Farley was one of the first modern researchers who tried to correct the bad press the wolf has gotten over the centuries. Dont remember any specific quotes, but one of my favorite parts is where he attempts to 'mark' the territory around his camp. You really have to want to think like a wolf to do this.

Also a note on the wolf diet, and reputation for bloodthirstyness:
when the contents of wolf stomachs are analyzed they usually are full of...mice. No large beasts or humans. Just mice.

On Isle Royale, an island in Lake Superior between Michigan and Canada, there is a herd of moose, and also a pack of wolves. The wolves do not rend and tear through the moose herd, slaughtering merrily. There is a natural balance between the wolves and moose. The wolves may take down the old, ill, or young and weak moose. But other than that, they happily coexist.

Great article, mr old wolf, sir!


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It's been a long time since I read Never Cry Wolf. But I do remember all that stuff about diet and about his 'marking frenzy'. I was dissapointed to find that a lot of it was fiction.

I really do need to finish this article and put in all the stuff about wolves not being such a bloodthirsty hunter.

And what's this 'Mr' and 'Sir' stuff?

That's from before we were properly introduced, wolfie.

Now about the Mowat book being fiction...
If you are referring to John Goddard's allegations, they probably are partially true. Like the fact that he really only spent about 90 hours studying wolves, and so on. However, subsequent research into wolf behavior, including the studies done on the isolated Isle Royale Pack, and other packs, have pretty much supported Mowat's observations. This has been partially responsible for elimination of wolf bounties, attempts to reesatblish wolf packs in various places, and a better understanding and respect for the whole balance of nature.

Back when ole Farley wrote, 'conservation' movements had not taken on the momentum that it eventually did. His books served as one of the pioneer attempts to look at ecology and man's wholesale attempts to eliminate various species without first carefully looking at what the long term result may mean.

And besides, he wrote with a sense of humor, which made it possible for the general public to understand what he was doing, rather than some obscure scientific report to be filed somewhere without impact.

Even the Canadian and World Encyclopedia admits that he is a controversial character http://tceplus.com/mowat.htm but he is "reputedly Canada's most widely read author; his books have been published in over 40 countries."

So don't be disillusioned by Farley's 'embellishments' of the book; accept it for what it is; a popularized account of what wolf life is 'probably' like, from a humorous, but still empassioned, perspective.

BTW, have you read any of the studies of the Isle Royale wolf pack?

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*chuckle*Oh I realise that he wrote from a position of 'strength', which is probably why it all has the ring of truth about it. And as a story I can still enjoy it, as well as being able to enjoy the factual information contained within it.

What got me was finding out it wasn't a 'true life' story when it was billed as such (at least my copy is). That sort of thing just tends to grate on me. Call me sensitive maybe, but I see it as a form of lying.

Be that as it may it is still a good story and well worth the read.

And no, I've yet to read those studies. While I love wolves, when it comes to those kind of things I tend to 'pull back'. Probably a reaction to the number of 'studies' I had to read in Uni.

I understand your reaction. The 'blurb' on your book was written by the publisher. But I suspect that Mr. Mowat encouraged this view of his writing as a 'true life' story. But the book IS cataloged as non-fiction in libraries.

There is a good book based on the repopulation of wolves in Yellowstone: The Company of Wolves by Peter Steinhart $14.00 that is not a 'scientific' study.

The two books about Isle Royale wolves are
The wolves of Isle Royale: a broken balance by Rolf Peterson
and
Wolves of Minong: Isle Royale's Wild Community by Durward Leon Allen

I have not read either one completely, just dipped into copies I had bought for my daughter. They are not as entertaining as Mowat's book, but interesting in their own way. I admit that they are a little dryer, but because they are first hand accounts, still exciting.

What I find interesting is that as the wolf or moose populations have fluctuated everyone immediately starts worrying about 'what to do'. If the change is not due to human intervention, the answer is: nothing. Let nature take care of it. If the wolves die out on the island, so be it. They were relative latecomers. But humans continue to interfere with nature in attempts to 'fix' things. It's just that the idea of what 'fixing' means changes from generation to generation...

At one time it meant destroying all wolves, because they were destructive. Hopefully, we have permanently got past this point.

Ah well, so it goes.

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I might have to look those up. I tend to mostly borrow from the library due to not having that much ready cash, so if they don't have it I usually go without.
Of course if a book comes out by Terry Pratchett or David Eddings, well...it's amazing where the money suddenly appears from

And I know what you mean about the 'fixing'. We humans appear to be a 'tinkering' breed. We'll tinker and try to fix, even if we don't have any clue how something is broken, or even if it's actually broken. We then go on our merry way and hope that it's fixed, and if it's not then make another attempt at fixing it. Often we'll get so caught up in the fixing we lose sight of what we're aiming at.

Quiet curious really.

I agree, quite curious how easily humans lose sight of the original purpose of an activity.

I have just been reading about a conflict between the US Parks Service and local organizations and people, related to Isle Royale and how it is to be used.

As with Yellowstone, we are beginning to understand that too much human traffic is not a good thing. And that the environment is fragile, and does have limits. Even in seemingly hardy Yellowstone. We dont seem to be able to understand that while each one of us makes only one set of footprints, when that is multiplied by millions it can be quite destructive.

[Of course it is the same inability to understand geometric progression that has led to spam and chain letter on the internet--but I digress]

Anyway, the US Parks Service, in an effort to 'preserve' Isle Royale, is making it difficult, if not impossible for people to get to the island by motorboat, and restrictions on the use of the one public lodge on the island. They are purposely letting public dockage, and other things deteriorate so that human visits are being discouraged. Meanwhile, they have built millions of dollars worth of Parks Service facilities on the island for the staff who lives there for the maintenance of the park -- for the people that they are discouraging from visiting...

talk about losing sight of the goal...


While the island has always been an 'on foot' wilderness camping experience, the Parks Service has initiated an extreme program to cut human use of the natural resource even further. While the balance between use and abuse IS a delicate one, the Parks Service, in a religious fervor of preservation, has gone off the deep end without and input or communication with those very people that the Park was set aside for. An interesting exercise in losing sight of what it was that was being 'fixed'.

If you are interested, here is the link to the website of the groups that are protesting the Park Service policies:
http://www.isleroyale.org/

And about the books. Does your library have an interloan service so they can try to get you titles that are not in their own collection?

bb

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Losing sight of the goal? They've closed their eyes and walked off a cliff!
I had a bit of a read and I'm still shaking my head over it getting to this stage.

And our library only does interloans with other librarys whose catalogs I can already see via their system

Ooh, I loved NCW too! Sorry I didn't have time to read your whole article, but I just wanted to say it is very good and much more comprehensive then the one I was planning to write until I found yours. Did you hear the news? Just hours ago, the 10th District Appeals Court of Denver overturned Judge Downes' ruling that all wolves must be removed (killed) from Yellowstone and Central Idaho. In edition, the American Farm Bureau announced that the organization elected a new President, ousting former President Dean Kleckner, who was one of the most outspoken opponents environmental protection in general and wolf recovery in particular. Isn't that great news?

Hey! Old wolf!
you around?
I thought you would like to know that I put a link to your Wolves article in my recent update to 'da Yoop' http://www.h2g2.com/A65558 : in the section about Isle Royale wolves.

We miss you in Damogran. We have a werewolf, but it just isnt the same without you...Spiny says 'hi' too.

yer friend,
blu
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Has anyone read Fell or the Sight?