"Never Cry Wolf" is a humourous tale on the pattern of the "Eye-Opener," beginning with an hilarous take-off on that mine of comedy, the former Department of Mines and Resources. On their behalf the author is sent to study wolves in the Barrenlands, and specifically to determine the extent to which they eat caribou. He concludes that wolves do not eat caribou, they eat mice. If wolves occasionally do eat caribou, it is good for the caribou, who ought to like it.
As the study of wolves develops, not all of which is to be taken seriously, one basic conclusion emerges. Once you get under their skins, wolves are very human, but if you get under the skin of a human being you will find he's a bloodthirsty predator. Mr. Mowat depicts himself as a baffled innocent, fed on mediaeval European legends of wolves plus new legends invented by the Dominion Wildlife Service, gradually discovering that the wolf is a much maligned creature and a model citizen of this great country. (pp. 119-20)
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