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The Timber Wolf in Wisconsin: The Death And Life Of A Majestic Predator
In early 1958, in the far northern town of Cornucopia, Wisconsin's "last" timber wolf was accidentally run over by an automobile. The "humane" intention to end the animal's suffering produced a grisly the wolf survived the impact of the car, was bludgeoned with a tire iron twice but survived, and finally had its throat slit with a restaurant knife.
This horrifying scene is certainly an apt (if appalling) symbol of the timber wolf's early fate in Wisconsin. Feared, detested, hunted down for state-authorized bounties, the animal was systematically exterminated as an enemy of man and progress. Yet this bleak chapter in the history of conservation has a happier ending. Seventeen years later, in 1975, the timber wolf had officially reestablished itself and, as a protected species, is now flourishing under the care of Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources.
Few can be more caring than the author, a DNR educator in wildlife management. As an inquisitive teenager, Richard Thiel began his pursuit of the Wisconsin timber wolf's story in the mid-1960s and has been at it ever since. The result is this arresting, intensely readable book, a story of fear, mistrust, and misunderstanding that ends, thankfully, as one of hope and appreciation.
This horrifying scene is certainly an apt (if appalling) symbol of the timber wolf's early fate in Wisconsin. Feared, detested, hunted down for state-authorized bounties, the animal was systematically exterminated as an enemy of man and progress. Yet this bleak chapter in the history of conservation has a happier ending. Seventeen years later, in 1975, the timber wolf had officially reestablished itself and, as a protected species, is now flourishing under the care of Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources.
Few can be more caring than the author, a DNR educator in wildlife management. As an inquisitive teenager, Richard Thiel began his pursuit of the Wisconsin timber wolf's story in the mid-1960s and has been at it ever since. The result is this arresting, intensely readable book, a story of fear, mistrust, and misunderstanding that ends, thankfully, as one of hope and appreciation.
280 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 3, 2015
Personal Response
I really liked this book because it was very interesting and it was always talking about different facts about wolves. I learned a lot of things that I didn't know and most of it was very interesting. One thing that was very interesting was that it told about a lot of different wolf stories from all over the state of Wisconsin. Some of them were around the area that we live in and one was even from just down the road from my house. I will now look for more books either by this same author or other predator books.
Plot
There is not one certain plot or story in this book so I will explain some of the different stories and different parts of the book. The book started out by talking about how many wolves there were in Wisconsin when settlers first settled it. The Native Americans helped us to start trapping wolves and other predators. Many trappers didn't catch any or few wolves at all so they had to trap different animals to make there money. Many things changed in the wolf trapping industry in Wisconsin when the government and local townsmen started paying bounties for the wolves in the 1800's. Many people then tried to trap wolves in order to make more money. Many made a small fortune but most had a very hard time in catching wolves. Some smart men that didn't catch many wolves turned to cheating and lying for the bounties. Since all you needed was to show them the scalp of the animal, a lot of people turned to killing dogs and taking their scalps in and tricking the officials that they were wolves. Many trappers succeeded in tricking the state but as the years went on more laws were made so that it was easier to identify that it was a wolf. One example was that you had to show the whole body within a certain amount of time from when it was killed. One example was from when a man brought in 3 dog scalps claiming that they were wolf scalps in Price County Wisconsin. The Wisconsin bounty system for wolves and coyotes was ended in the mid 1900's. Another section was about poisoning wolves that were a nuisance to farmers or to cities. Poison was injected into many pieces of meat of dead animals and then the wolves would eat the meat and would die within a matter of minutes. Many wolves were taken this way until people realized that the poison killed many other wild animals also. Some people even died from trying to poison wolves. One example from this chapter is from when one wife saw wolves by her cattle so she threw poisoned meat outside her house and she found 12 wolves laying dead in her yard the next morning. One of the last Chapters in this book was about how some DNR Game Wardens live trapped some wolves to put them in a caged, fenced in zoo so scientist could study them. There were also many different stories about wolves killing animals and all kinds of different things about wolves.
Characterization
Since there were no real characters throughout the whole book I will talk about the author and wolves themselves. The author did a great job by collecting many different stories about wolves from all over the state, and many interesting facts about the history of wolves. The author must of truly loved and had a passion for wolves. On the other hand wolves themselves have had a great and wild life as they adapt to humans taking there land and hunting and trapping them. They went from being the top dog of the land to being second to humans and nearly becoming extinct. Now finally today they are coming back in numbers. The wolf is by far my favorite animal.
Recommendation
I would recommend this book to any male sophomore from the state of Wisconsin because of the book taking place in Wisconsin. It teaches a young adult many things that most do not know and some of them things you would never know if you had never read it. Some you will know for your whole life and will use the knowledge in the outdoors. It would also be a great book for anybody who loves wolves or the history of Wisconsin or even just nature and wildlife in general. I learned a lot of things from this book that I would have never learned if I had not read it. I greatly enjoyed reading this book and I hope many new people will read it soon.
I really liked this book because it was very interesting and it was always talking about different facts about wolves. I learned a lot of things that I didn't know and most of it was very interesting. One thing that was very interesting was that it told about a lot of different wolf stories from all over the state of Wisconsin. Some of them were around the area that we live in and one was even from just down the road from my house. I will now look for more books either by this same author or other predator books.
Plot
There is not one certain plot or story in this book so I will explain some of the different stories and different parts of the book. The book started out by talking about how many wolves there were in Wisconsin when settlers first settled it. The Native Americans helped us to start trapping wolves and other predators. Many trappers didn't catch any or few wolves at all so they had to trap different animals to make there money. Many things changed in the wolf trapping industry in Wisconsin when the government and local townsmen started paying bounties for the wolves in the 1800's. Many people then tried to trap wolves in order to make more money. Many made a small fortune but most had a very hard time in catching wolves. Some smart men that didn't catch many wolves turned to cheating and lying for the bounties. Since all you needed was to show them the scalp of the animal, a lot of people turned to killing dogs and taking their scalps in and tricking the officials that they were wolves. Many trappers succeeded in tricking the state but as the years went on more laws were made so that it was easier to identify that it was a wolf. One example was that you had to show the whole body within a certain amount of time from when it was killed. One example was from when a man brought in 3 dog scalps claiming that they were wolf scalps in Price County Wisconsin. The Wisconsin bounty system for wolves and coyotes was ended in the mid 1900's. Another section was about poisoning wolves that were a nuisance to farmers or to cities. Poison was injected into many pieces of meat of dead animals and then the wolves would eat the meat and would die within a matter of minutes. Many wolves were taken this way until people realized that the poison killed many other wild animals also. Some people even died from trying to poison wolves. One example from this chapter is from when one wife saw wolves by her cattle so she threw poisoned meat outside her house and she found 12 wolves laying dead in her yard the next morning. One of the last Chapters in this book was about how some DNR Game Wardens live trapped some wolves to put them in a caged, fenced in zoo so scientist could study them. There were also many different stories about wolves killing animals and all kinds of different things about wolves.
Characterization
Since there were no real characters throughout the whole book I will talk about the author and wolves themselves. The author did a great job by collecting many different stories about wolves from all over the state, and many interesting facts about the history of wolves. The author must of truly loved and had a passion for wolves. On the other hand wolves themselves have had a great and wild life as they adapt to humans taking there land and hunting and trapping them. They went from being the top dog of the land to being second to humans and nearly becoming extinct. Now finally today they are coming back in numbers. The wolf is by far my favorite animal.
Recommendation
I would recommend this book to any male sophomore from the state of Wisconsin because of the book taking place in Wisconsin. It teaches a young adult many things that most do not know and some of them things you would never know if you had never read it. Some you will know for your whole life and will use the knowledge in the outdoors. It would also be a great book for anybody who loves wolves or the history of Wisconsin or even just nature and wildlife in general. I learned a lot of things from this book that I would have never learned if I had not read it. I greatly enjoyed reading this book and I hope many new people will read it soon.
December 20, 2024
Very sober and scientific approach to the topic. I highly recommend reading this if you fancy yourself as someone who likes to authoritatively blame wolves for changes to deer populations.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews