Never Cry Wolf
by Farley Mowat · first published 1963
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Biologist Farley Mowat was dropped into Eskimo lands by the Canadian Government, that was looking for an excuse to eradicate wolves. What he discovered instead was astonishing. The Eskimos were listening to wolves from five miles away, messages from the Canis lupus telegraph system. One example was the instance that two men and a woman were going to arrive in three days. All these communications were veridicated! Their social structure was self-aware and intelligent. They were NOT eating up all the caribou, as the Government wanted to project, but cleaning up mice in plague proportions. Yum.
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Book recommendation: Never Cry Wolf, by Farley Mowat. It takes a pretty close look at wolves (among other things) in the Canadian far north in a highly readable book. Hilariously funny at times, Mowat comes to largely the same conclusion…
on “In defence of the wolf” ↗…"Different Seasons" by Stephen King) Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck) The Martian Chronicles (Bradbury) Roadside Picnic (Strugatsky) Frankenstein (Shelley) Brave New World (Huxley) Farenheit 451 (Heinlein) Never Cry Wolf (Mowatt) A Whale for the Killing (Mowatt) The Machine Stops (Forster) Heart of Darkness (Conrad) Starship Troopers (Heinlein) The Jungle Book (Kipling) Lost in the Barrens (Mowatt) The Republic…
on “Ask HN: What book had a big impact on you as a child or teenager?” ↗Farley Mowat, later known for Never Cry Wolf served in the battle at Ortona, and wrote a most interesting book about his war service, And No Birds Sang. (This could well be mentioned in the article, but I haven't evaded the paywall.)
on “Strike at the Knee: Review of the Savage Storm: The Battle for Italy 1943” ↗Great overview of more complex vocal communications. Farley Mowat makes a similar case for wolves in Never Cry Wolf: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Cry_Wolf And almost certainly: cetaceans too.
on “Bonobos' calls may be the closest thing to animal language we've seen” ↗…particularly good, and a source of many references. Whenever you hear references to Lenny and the rabbits and the puppy, it's referring to this book. - Farley Mowatt (drama, environmentalism) - Most famous for "Never Cry Wolf" TBH I'm a little jealous... You're about to discover a whole world.
on “Ask HN: I don't read fiction, how much am I missing out on?” ↗