Wisdom of Wolves, The: Lessons From the Sawtooth Pack

I am loving this book, even though I have been brought to tears many times while reading it. I have loved wolves since childhood (I'm a baby boomer....so that's a long time). I admire their beauty, intelligence and nobility. This book speaks to those qualities which are so evident to anyone with eyes to truly see and emotions to feel. These beings taught our early ancestors by example to hunt and live in groups. Fortunately, they are still with us despite humankind's efforts at species genocide......but only just. It is humankind that has thrown nature out of balance by putting themselves and their livestock in wolf territory. Even my 10 year old niece says "Cows and sheep don't belong there. Wolves were there first." If the "beef" industry and wolf haters have it their way wolves will once again be on the brink of extinction. More and more we read and hear of the horrible slaughter being carried out by ignorant, backward, inhumane humans. Sad, how people need scapegoats for their own fear and guilt. I'm grateful to the Dutchers for their tireless efforts to educate and inform the public about these magnificent and most admirable creatures.

I was not sure I would like this book or find it relevant to me. Both my husband and I worked in Yellowstone during wolf re-introduction. My husband was very involved and helped carry in the first crate of wild wolves to be released. We listened to this book on a road trip and found it really fascinating - coming from a different perspective -where they lived with and got to know each wolf in the pack. This made for a really compelling story. We both knew many people and events in the book and found it to be very well documented. We really enjoyed this book that takes the reader on a truely heart wrenching journey. So glad that this journey with wild wolves was made into such a fine book that many people more removed from reintroduction can learn from. A truly great book.

I’m on a bit of a wolf kick, having read the Rick McIntyre books and recently Nate Blakeslee’s American Wolf. These books are observations of packs and individual wolves in the wild, and as such, are much more interesting scientifically, ecologically and even emotionally. This is a study done by a nature photographer and his younger wife in a wholly artificial, fenced 25 acres. The other series was much more interesting, but this was good. I’m certain that the movie version was much better than the book

I loved learning more about wolves and this does a great job of building empathy for them. However, the book was more of a diary whereas I thought it would be more of a tale. My misunderstanding.

Like most books on Wolves, very interesting and a good read.

Having seen both the documentaries that the Dutchers made about the Sawtooth wolf pack I wasn't sure this book was going to have anything new. This was definitely not the case! There was very profound insight into wolf behavior and stories of observations of other wolf packs. I especially liked the parallels that were drawn to human behavior.

Must read for anyone who wants a better understanding of these magnificent creatures or their own dog. truly beautiful and inspirational

A wonderfully different book on wolves that approaches them from a "Zen" perspective if you will. A must read for pro wolf people. And all the wolf hating ranchers would also benefit from reading this book. Wolves are thinking, feeling, intelligent animals. As a rancher myself who practices non-lethal means to effect co-existence with predators, I have long followed the Dutcher's work. Their books along with Carl Safina's Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel, should be required reading for anyone interested in wolves, supportive of wolves, or yes, even hating wolves. Because after reading those books, no sensitive human could be capable of blanket-hate of these magnificent animals. This book is a wonderful addition to anyone's library and I highly recommend it.

Relaxing description

This new book for Jaime and Jim Dutcher brings once more memories from their excellent exercise back in the '90s to learn things from wolves, although they have published in several ways the information they gathered, this time they presented in a short stories format, with additions of experiences from other parts of the world. The book is very nice and entertaining whether you have read the previous books from the authors (and Watched the movies) or not.

Great book, very easy to read. I've learnt far more reading this book than any documentary I've seen on TV. I love how both authors relay their encounters with them including the challenges they faced keeping these wolves safe and alive. It is refreshing to read both authors' perspectives and get to know the wolves personalities. I also appreciate them referencing other relevant books and authors (Carl Safina, Gordon Harber etc) who have written on the topic and brought incredible insights into the lives of these creatures. The only thing that I thought would make it deserve less than 5 stars was the lack of chronological order to the book. While the chapters are divided by themes, they include different time periods within them (following the wolves at different stages of their lives). For me, this is a little unsettling going back and fourth in time. I would have preferred a chronological order to the story.

This book makes you think about ourselves and our perception of other species.This was my first read about wolves and the way authors have presented their experiences makes it a best one.

This book brought me to tears many times when I could clearly visualise and feel the connection between Jamie and Jim, with the pack. Some very poignant endearing moments revealed the very special connection that humans can have with animals. As a life coach who uses nature as a teaching partner, I have worked with horses for over two decades and have personally experienced the healing powers of communing with nature. I bought the book to research wolf behaviour and how they can teach us things about ourselves we’re not always aware of. I will use what I have learned to add to my life coaching repertoire on how nature is still our teacher and healer.