The Wolves of Mount McKinley
by Adolph Murie

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Book Reviews of The Wolves of Mount McKinley

Book Review: More Than the Title Suggests
Summary: 4 Stars

First published in 1944, this book is a record of observations made by an astute naturalist bent upon discovering how the animals live, what they eat, where they range, when they give birth, and, most importantly, how they feed upon one another to maintain a healthy and natural population balance. Not a few myths about prey and predator are dispelled by Murie's objective observations, which include examining the contents of scats and stomachs.

Murie does not preach environmentalism, but a careful reading of this book should leave the reader with new insights into the natural world and may make him or her just a little more hesitant to intrude destructively into what is actually a highly complex interrelationship among many species inhabiting the few wild spaces left to them. Murie's approach to his study is highly objective and non-judgmental, however, and another reader could probably come away with insights different from mine. Still, I can scarcely conceive of any reader's coming away from this book with no new insight of some sort!

If one is particularly intrigued by the great grizzly bear, I recommend that he also read Murie's work entitled "The Grizzlies of Mount McKinley," for it goes into far more detail than does the single chapter on grizzlies in this book. Before investing the purchase price and the reading time in either book, do understand that these are not "story books" and that they are in no way sentimental or emotive approaches to their subjects. They are highly descriptive, scantily illustrated with old black and white photos from the early 1940's, and, at times, recite fairly dry statistical observations. Overall, however, they are well worth the investment by anyone who has an interest in the wild creatures that still inhabit the less-traveled areas of North America.

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