Of Wolves and Men

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The ones that stayed behind in the forests retained their retractile claws, perfected an ambush/stabbing kind of hunting, and became saber-toothed tigers, leopards, and cheetahs.

The reader is given a glimpse into what Lopez can do with his language—“The cold sits down like iron here”—and because it starts off like this, yet that kind of language is rarely used afterwards, the reader knows that Lopez is choosing not to use this lyrical language, rather than being unable. After a few moments he flops on his side, rises, stretches, and moves a few feet to inspect -- minutely, delicately -- a crevice in the rock outcropping and finds or doesn't find what draws him there. As we begin to put vocalizations together with a more fluid and careful description of body and movement, we are bound to discover considerably more about the wolf and his language of gesture” (48).Originally published in 1978, and now with a new afterword by the author, Of Wolves and Men is classic wildlife literature at its best. In the winter of 1976 an aerial hunter surprised ten gray wolves travelling on a ridge in the Alaska Range. He talks mainly of the Nunamiut people who live in the Alaskan interior and are a seminomadic hunting society.

In North America, and elsewhere, as human civilization affected the distribution and food habits of wolves -- by killing buffalo, for example, and putting domestic cattle in their place on the ranges -- various subspecies of wolf interbred and the purity of gene pools, such as they were, was altered. He was a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim, Lannan, and National Science foundations; the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; the John Burroughs and John Hay medals; and other honors. They killed wolves with ‘ almost pathological dedication’ from the 1860s right through to the 1970s, targeting even radio-collared wolves that were part of scientific studies. a wolf is wounded and a human being is later found with a similar wound—was the basis of proof in many werewolf trials.Mr Lopez takes as his starting point, ‘ man’s struggle to come to grips with the nature of the universe.