Reviews - Wolf Island: Discovering the Secrets of a Mythic Animal

Rounding up from what I’d call a 3.5 star rating. The first half to 2/3 of the book was fascinating and eye opening and well written to include quite a bit of the author’s personal life and reflections that give this book zest and perspective. By the third winter season, though, the writing dried up a little and was rushed through, kind of “and we saw a lot more wolves hunting moose” that was tough to get through. I would have loved more detail on the later years of the study, the book is very front end heavy with life and then races ahead to the end. Still, I learned a lot and absolutely enjoyed this read. It comes from a balanced, science focused perspective, definitely not catering toward the wolf-loving crowd, which I appreciated.

fallona's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous informative medium-paced

tove_reads's review against another edition

4.0

An interesting story of young graduate student David Mech studying wolves on the island of Isle Royale during three years in the 1950-1960s. This is a short, but good true story about how wolves were studied in the beginning, and what a life in the wilderness as a biologist can be like.

Things were naturally different back then, but life on the island in the wilderness has probably still its challenges despite all our technical gadgets. It is not a book filled will science, but an overview of what happened, his life during those years, and starting an amazing journey off getting to know wolves, as well as getting to know how to study them. Not to forget the moose on the island.

I really enjoyed the part at the end when he sped through his studies of wolves ha e changed and gone forward, and that the project is still going strong after 60 years. I bet I could listen to David’s stories for many hours. Extremely interesting, although I would have liked to read a lot more about the wolves. I guess I have to read his other books to find out more about all the other things he has done. I think we can thank this man for a lot of people changing their minds from being wolf haters to people who understand that wolves are important to the ecosystem.

saratellmanveloz's review against another edition

4.0

hopeful informative slow-paced

This is an important book for those who have followed the wolf re-introduction in Yellowstone and the resulting dispersal of wolves across the west. The last 30 minutes are especially important for wolf conservation.

dayeg58's review against another edition

3.0

My how things have changed.

candrvon's review against another edition

5.0

informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

This book helped me escape to isle royale to track wolves and moose during a stressful time

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