Wolf Island: Discovering the Secrets of a Mythic Animal

by L. David Mech, Greg Breining, Rolf O. Peterson (Foreword)

The world’s leading wolf expert describes the first years of a major study that transformed our understanding of one of nature’s most iconic creatures.

In the late 1940s, a small pack of wolves crossed the ice of Lake Superior to the island wilderness of Isle Royale, creating a perfect “laboratory” for a long-term study of predators and prey. As the wolves hunted and killed the island’s moose, a young graduate student named Dave Mech began research that would unlock the mystery of one of nature’s most revered (and reviled) animals—and eventually became an internationally renowned and respected wolf expert. This is the story of those early years.

Wolf Island recounts three extraordinary summers and winters Mech spent on the isolated outpost of Isle Royale National Park, tracking and observing wolves and moose on foot and by airplane—and upending the common misperception of wolves as destructive killers of insatiable appetite. Mech sets the scene with one of his most thrilling encounters: witnessing an aerial view of a spectacular hunt, then venturing by snowshoe (against the pilot’s warning) to photograph the pack of hungry wolves at their kill. Wolf Island owes as much to the spirit of adventure as to the impetus of scientific curiosity. Written with science and outdoor writer Greg Breining, who recorded hours of interviews with Mech and had access to his journals and field notes from those years, the book captures the immediacy of scientific fieldwork in all its triumphs and frustrations. It takes us back to the beginning of a classic environmental study that continues today, spanning nearly sixty years—research and experiences that would transform one of the most despised creatures on Earth into an icon of wilderness and ecological health.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Science, Animals, Wolves, Biology, Wildlife

200 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2020

About the author

Lucyan David "Dave" Mech is an internationally recognized wolf expert, a senior research scientist for the U.S. Department of the Interior's U.S. Geological Survey (since 1970), and an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. He has researched wolves since 1958 in places such as Minnesota, Canada, Italy, Alaska, Yellowstone National Park, and on Isle Royale.

Mech is the founder of the International Wolf Center and sits on its Board of Directors as Vice Chair. The project to create the facility, which he started in 1985, was a natural outgrowth of his wolf research as well as his ambition to educate people about the nature of wolves that they may come to respect the creature through understanding.

He has published ten books and numerous articles about wolves and other wildlife, the most famous of these being his books The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species and Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation.

Reviews

[PamG · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOLF ISLAND – DISCOVERING THE SECRETS OF A MYTHIC ANIMAL by L. David Mech in conjunction with Greg Breining is categorized under both biographies and memoirs and outdoors and nature. It follows Dr. Mech’s scientific research on the predator-prey relationships between wolves and moose on Isle Royale in Lake Superior. This book focuses on his research at the end of the 1950’s and beginning of the 1960’s. In the acknowledgements section of the book, it tells the reader that Greg Breining consulted Dr. Mech’s journals, field notes, books, data forms, etc. while Dr. Mech checked and approved the material, editied it, and added anecdotes, etc.

This book tells details of Mech’s summers which were spent hiking, boating, collecting wolf scats and moose mandibles, and observing these two animals. The winter seasons were spent largely flying over the land looking for, observing and counting both wolves and moose. These aerial surveys also helped to identify patterns. While much of this early scientific research has been confirmed, some conclusions have been revised as research techniques have progressed over the years. Today, there are six decades of data on wolves and moose on Isle Royale. Others continued Dr. Mech’s research there as he moved on to other areas after completing his doctorate.

The writing style is an easy to read and smooth flowing prose. You don’t have to be a biologist or scientist to understand the research that was undertaken and experience the day to day rigor that Dr. Mech’s study required of him. At the end of the book is information on what Dr. Mech did after this study as well as those that continued his work on Isle Royale and those that researched other animals there such as beaver and red fox. My only disappointment was the shortage of photographs. There are a few, but not many.

If you are interested in early scientific research on predator-prey relationships, enjoy nature, and/or enjoy memoirs, then I highly recommend that you check out this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

University of Minnesota Press and L. David Mech provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

[NAT.orious reads ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 STARS ★★★★✩

This book is for you if… you would love to know what the observations of a scientist look like who spends practically decades observing one of the most resilient canine predators on earth.

⤐ Preface.
By sheer coincidence, I discovered that my local indie cinema is featuring a wolf documentary at the moment. Watching it reminded me A LOT of Wolf Island. I should have expected Dave to show up in it but was still literally saying "I know this guy, I just read his book that is due to come out in October".

Although entirely irrelevant to this review, I thought it might be nice to take a quick look at the origins of my love for wolves. It's quite ridiculous if you think of it. Patriarchy from an early age on manipulated me into thinking that I have to be different and not like the other girls. Consequently, when I transitioned from primary school to middle school it came as quite a shock to me that almost all the girls liked horses. So I thought 'Meh, booooring, imma pick a new favourite animal'. You think I'm kidding? Nope, am not. I looked around and there they were in a documentary. Fierce, determined and at times goofy. Lots of fluff. What's not to love? Exactly.

⤐ Overall.
I couldn't believe my luck when NetGalley notified me that I was approved to read this precious book in advance. I barely managed to stop the giggling.


Post-reading I must say I'm a bit disappointed by Wolf Island. I definitely expected more wolf and less The private life of L. David Mech. Possible alternative title: Mech Island. It wasn't a terrible book per se, it's just that I had different expectations going into it and them not being fulfilled definitely had a negative impact on my reading experience.


Nonetheless, I loved the thoughtfulness and reverence Dave came to develop for the wolf, an animal that has admirers just it has enemies.

‘The wolf is neither a saint nor a sinner, except to those who want to make it so.’

I think their determination is often underestimated. In fact,

‘Wolves, even my big pack of fifteen, fail in their efforts to kill a moose far more often than they succeed. Once, I had figured out I could watch these wolves hunt, I began to realize how often they failed or even neglected to take up the chase. The wolves detected many moose but confronted or chased barely more than half.’

This quote resonated with me on some level which I find quite strange, considering I neither have to hunt my food personally nor does the food I consume have legs. Or tails, for that matter.

And yet there is this resemblance of not letting your failure determine your success. David's observations - strangely enough - made me appreciate and value my own resilience a lot more.

_____________________
4 STARS. Would stay up beyond my typical hours to finish it. I found some minor details I didn't like, agree with or lacked in some kind but overall, this was enjoyable and extraordinary.
_____________________
Many thanks to L. David Mech, University of Minnesota Press and NetGalley for providing me with this eArc in exchange for an honest review.

[hare · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1958, when little was known about wolves in the wild, Dave Mech undertook a study that would last over 60 years. For 3 summers and winters, he followed the wolves of Isle Royale, observing their moose hunts, their travels, and their pack life.

The memoir focuses on the field work, and the questions Dave Mech and Durward Allen, the project supervisor, wanted to find the answers to. But there is much more to this book than that. Mech paints an intriguing picture of living on the "royal island", among fishermen and wildlife - a graduate student with a wife and a baby living his dream of becoming one of the first wolf experts. He would go on to study wolves in Minnesota, Yellowstone, Ellesmere Island, and Alaska, but it was Isle Royale that started it all.



In later years, the wolf population would suffer from severe inbreeding. Having followed the news of Isle Royale wolves, I remember the hope we shared that some wolves would cross the ice bridge and join the few that remained there, to introduce new blood and bolster the genetic diversity. That didn't happen, and what followed was a long and heated debate concerning reintroduction. Eventually the wolves were brought to the island, and so the longest predator-prey study can now continue.

Further reading:

The Wolves of Isle Royale: A Broken Balance
Wolves of Minong: Isle Royale's Wild Community

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think you would enjoy this if you love biology, the wilderness, wolves and scientific documentaries. This is not only about wolves, this is not romanticizing wolves or any other creatures. This is the journey of men, more precisely David Mech, getting to know the wolves, getting closer to them and trying to understand them over many many years. Wolves are not beasts, or let's say no more than humans are.

Wolves fail killing moose more times than they succeed. But they keep trying... Because that's how they survive... But nature is more complex than that, and rules are sometimes rules just for a time...

The beginning of the book is slow as all studies are. It allows us to know the biologists's goals, their motivations, who they are and what they are ready to do. I really appreciate that as we usually just see the best moments in documentaries with amazing pictures of wolves playing around or precious movies showing the pups growing up.

The process is long but rewarding. Studying wolves is not about seeing wolves all day-long playing around, but it's a lot of hiking in their territories trying to understand their world, it's a lot of picking up their scat for analysis, yes like a dog owner would or at least should do, it's about seeing a moose getting killed by the pack and study moose's mandibles,...

I loved that book a lot and how realistic it felt. It's not a story, it's a study.

I love how we got a true beginning and an ending. I mean there is not ending here, but only new things to study but still...

And no you don't need to be a biologist, to love and understand that book.

So thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC of the book!

"The wolf is neither a saint nor a sinner except for those who want to make it so."

[Jacie Tengesdal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more than I did! Overall, it was an interesting book about wolves on Isle Royale. Some parts dragged, and some were really interesting. I was irked by his seemingly general disregard for his wife and children, but this wasn't the focus of the book and maybe just wasn't portrayed well. If you like wolves and science, an overall intriguing read.

[Randal White · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a young man growing up in Wisconsin in the 1960's, I loved being in the outdoors. Hiking, fishing, hunting, trapping; it was I lived for. And one of my dreams was to go to Isle Royale, and witness the wolf population myself. In fact, it was one of the dreams that led me to pursue my degree in Natural Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As happens, life intervenes, and I never made it to Isle Royale. But I kept my fascination with it, reading up on it in various publications.
Then, as luck would have it, I discovered this absolutely wonderful book by Dr. Mech! Mech was the first person to actually do scientific research on the interactions between wolves and moose on the island. He went there as a young graduate student in 1958. He spent three years in his graduate study, and became one of the foremost wolf scientists in the world. Thankfully, he has continued his research for 60 years, and is still going!
This is the story of his first three years on the island. Of his trekking across the island for days at a time, with very primitive gear. Of the aerial surveys undertaken in the winter, to locate and observe wolf packs and moose. Of the hunting of the moose by the wolves. Their behaviors, successes, and failures. All told in easy to read language, flowing along so well as to make you feel that you are there with him!
I really liked the perspective he gave towards the end of the book. Of the current debate on whether or not wolves should be taken off the protected status they currently have. I won't spoil it for you, but he provides an opinion that should be given a great deal of weight.
Finally, I would like to quote from the end of his book,....."to me it doesn't really seem that long ago when it all began, and I took my first steps as a budding wolf biologist. That was June 30, 1958, my first day on Isle Royale. I hiked 7 miles from Rock Harbor to the Daisy Farm campground, and along the trail, my field notes recorded, I found a fresh wolf track and 2 old droppings. Now, six decades and untold miles, wolf tracks, and droppings later, I am a mature wolf biologist. Instead of hiking 7 miles to catch a glimpse of wolf sign, I can look at a smartphone and check a GPS trail of a wolf online. I have changed a bit, research technology has changed quite a bit, and even the climate has changed".
And absolutely wonderful book! One that I have been waiting to read for decades.
Highly recommend!!!!

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories about a biologist doing research on a pack of wolves on an empty deserted island somewhere in the North. These are a few chapters describing the research in different years. There isn't a lot known about how wolves live, so it's great that someone focuses on them and invests so much time in them in order to learn more. Also has some great photos. Great read for biologists or people interested in wolves.

[Keith Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book would attract very specific readers. I have spent a fair amount of time on Isle Royale, and I read everything about the island that I find. It's great to see all these landmarks referenced, ones that I have particular images of or even personal references to. I have long been interested in the wolf/moose study there and have read just about everything I can about it, including the annual reports, when I can get them. I am generally interested in the various interpretations of wildlife observation and the understanding that comes from that.

So this book is not spectacularly well written. I have certainly read other narratives of wildlife research that are more compelling. The prose is simply efficient, getting across the stories of the early years of the study on Isle Royale, from 1958 to 1961. There is an interesting chapter at the end which goes through all the changes in the years since, and adds quite a bit of the later understanding.

But there is lots of excitement in watching from a small wind blown aircraft as wolves chase moose through the snow! In those days, simply by doing that, Mech was learning things we didn't know before. And he established a study that is now the longest continuous study of predators and prey in the world. Simply by its longevity we have learned a lot and continue to learn more every year.

[Ula Tardigrade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wolves are fascinating creatures. I fell in love with them as a teenager, after reading "Never Cry Wolf" by Farley Mowat, and as an adult had the pleasure of seeing them in real life, so I was very interested in this account from a world's leading authority on this species. To be fair, this is not great literature, the language of this book is very plain and matter-of-factly - after all, this is a kind of field notes. But the stories are very engaging and informative.

I have to warn that this not a good choice for the faint-hearted, because of many gruesome details of wolves' hunts. But for me, it was in a way refreshing, that the author has a very pragmatic and realistic attitude, in contrast to many naive, tree-hugging naturalists. Maybe it's hard for me to understand his passion for fur trapping, but it is obvious that he saved countless lives of animals thanks to his work. I can even forgive him that he described the aforementioned Mowat's book as "a great read - as fiction"...

Thanks to the publisher, University of Minnesota Press, and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book.

[Shankar Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

“𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗶𝘁, 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻.”

In 1963, National Geographic published David Mech’s photographs shot from aircraft and millions of readers learned about Isle Royale for the first time. His research established field methods and a foundation that continues to frame research six decades later. He was instrumental in creating a sea change in public attitudes about wolves, from evil vermin to respectable fellow travelers.

Isle Royale is a 45-mile-long island located in the northwest of Lake Superior. It is part of the U.S. state of Michigan. The island and the 450 surrounding smaller islands and waters make up Isle Royale National Park.

It is the story of the first three years, between 1958 and 1961, of Dr. Mech’s wolf–moose fieldwork in Isle Royale National Park. Of his time spent on the island, hiking hundreds of miles on trails in summer as well as flying hundreds of hours over the island in winter, learning all he could about the habits of wolves and the island’s only significant wolf prey, the moose.

The Isle Royale study has been the longest continuous predator–prey study in all of science. And it has been one of the most successful, adding immensely to knowledge of wolves and moose and their habits and interactions.By the time Dr. Mech left, he had set in motion a research program that continues today, more than sixty years later.

It was also a story of others who worked and lived on the island including commercial fishermen who had been inhibited the wilderness for a long time. Dave and his wife stayed there for three summers too.

The writing style is easy to follow and the narrative is smooth. Mech does a wonderful job of telling of his experiences. You don’t have to be a biologist to understand the research and methods undertaken by Dr. Mech on day-to-day basis. I really enjoyed the book and looking forward to his other books. Highly recommended.

** 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙇. 𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙙 𝙈𝙚𝙘𝙝, 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙩𝙖 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝘼𝙧𝙘 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬.

[Troy Tradup · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wolf Island covers the time Mech spent researching wolves and moose on Isle Royale for his dissertation back in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It sounds like Greg Breining did the actual heavy lifting here, interviewing Mech and pulling information from his original journals and field notes to create this slight but enjoyable book.

The authors made no attempt to create any structure beyond Mech’s research trips, or to manipulate any drama out of the narrative, so it’s a pretty straightforward account of a young man working toward an advanced degree sixty years ago. A different version of this book might have tried to play up the birth of Mech’s first child — would he and his wife get back to the mainland on time? Or the stubborn fever of a later child — would the fever break, would they need a doctor? Something. This isn’t that type of book.

Mostly it’s just several different seasonal excursions in the early days of “the longest continuous study of any predator-prey system in the world.” Mech looks for wolves, watches wolves and moose from a plane, sees wolves chase and sometimes catch moose (although usually not). It’s a little repetitive (or, in one example where several paragraphs are repeated almost verbatim in two different chapters, extremely repetitive), but it’s always ... affable.

Mech certainly doesn’t make the life of a working scientist sound glamorous in any way. Much of his research revolves around the collection of wolf scat—“like a dog owner cleaning up after his pet but with greater fastidiousness”—but it’s a life he clearly enjoyed.

I’m something of a wolf nerd, and this book is heavy on data from years ago, so I can’t say I learned a whole lot. It was mostly a reiteration of points like, “As killing machines, wolves are not that well oiled.” (They typically ‘test’ and attempt to kill way more prey than they actually do.) Mech does make the claim that scientists no longer use the term “alpha” to signify a specific wolf or a mating pair of wolves in the wild, information that has apparently passed me by for many years. I must research this.

Mech’s description of a lake “as clear and cold as a vodka on the rocks” is about as fancy as the prose gets here, although I very much enjoyed this early imagery: “I immediately liked the idea of a lake within an island within a much larger lake. And some of the lakes have their own small islands—like nesting dolls of lakes and islands.”

I’m going to find a place to borrow that image for my own writing one day.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

From a distance of 60 years, Mech's story of his PhD thesis research on the wolves of Isle Royale. It's a tremendous tale of discovery – scientific, professional, personal. It hard now to imagine an advisor dropping his grad student on a lightly inhabited island full of wolves and moose with the instructions: hike and learn the island, collect poo, count what you see, and figure it out. But Mech captures the fear (more "Can I do it?" than "Will I get eaten by wolves?") and the thrill of making something where there was nothing before (deep understanding of large animal predator-prey dynamics) . His observations about the dwindling fisher folk on the island, and the park service employees who helped him out, and his awesome pilots, and the dangers of Lake Superior, are astute. He drops some personal details, but Mech is cagey enough about his interior life that his decision, after completing a fantastic PhD on wildlife biology, to return to grad school to get a second PhD in American Studies, comes out of the blue. That he had to bail on that plan given a family of 4 to support (his understanding wife and 3 kids under 5) isn't surprising. The project is still going, all these years later, with sequential turnover of PIs. And because of the insight and hard work of Kena-Fox Dobbs, my lab even got a nice paper from the collections (physical and data/information) that Mech and his descendents set in motion.

[Scott Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Mech founded the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota. He began his graduate studies in the late 1950s when he became the pioneer wolf researcher at Isle Royale National Park. The island provided the ideal “lab” because wolves and their moose prey were mostly isolated from the mainland. Mech and his pilot colleague would spend a decade of icy winters studying the relationship between prey and predator. Wolves cannot subsist solely on smaller prey (beavers, rabbits, etc.) because they must expend too much energy to hunt an animal that yields insufficient meat. His fieldwork revealed that wolves didn’t often succeed in killing larger prey such as moose – only about an 8% success rate. Wolves would first “test” a moose to determine how it would respond to an attack. A robust and healthy adult moose would stand its ground and counterattack, usually causing the pack to give up the chase. In contrast, weak, young, old, or unhealthy moose often tried to flee, and the race began in deadly earnest. Mech’s fieldwork also found that wolves pose little danger to humans. The wolves would scatter in fear when the author would close in on a recent moose kill. Mech is an excellent writer, and his stories are gripping. I was saddened to learn of the loss of the author’s Christian faith while on the island, as well as the subsequent breakup of his marriage. Overall, however, this book was an uplifting read and an excellent opportunity to learn about these fascinating canines. [NOTE: at the International Wolf Center, we learned that there are only two species of wolves in the world: the predominant species of grey wolf found throughout North America and Eurasia, and the endangered Red Wolf only found in North Carolina.]

[Cassie Donnelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a certified wolf girl, I will undoubtedly read anything Dr. Mech writes. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Mech’s stories of the very first days of the Isle Royale wolf-moose project and how he was able to collect data. I also liked that he included insights into his personal life at the time of his study, including starting a family and nearly changing careers. The last line, which says “in majestic Lake Superior still lies Isle Royale…where wolves and moose await another youth eager to find his or her first wolf track and begin a lifetime adventure” really solidified the whole book for me. My only pet peeve was that the book bounced around quite a bit and I felt it could’ve been more chronological or expanded on one idea at a time rather than continuing to revisit one idea several times.

[Cori Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really a good read. Wolves continue to be erroneously maligned by hunting groups, and negatively portrayed in the media. This book is really good at dispelling some of these myths. Mech was able to spend three years in the 60's, on Isle Royale on Lake Superior to study it's wolf and moose populations. This book details those years on the Isle. His stories are entertaining and informative.

[Mens Rea · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Wolf Island, wolf expert L. David Mech reminisces back to his first time studying the wolves residing in Isle Royale in Lake Superior as a young researcher in the late 50’s. The author was lucky enough to be offered a researcher position right after his undergraduate studies in the field in Isle Royale where moose and wolves seemed to coexist in relative balance.

The author begins his memoir with a scene of chasing the wolf pack from the air while they were making a moose kill. Mech cannot help himself and wants to approach continue reading

[CLW · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glimpse into the life of a research scientist, lots of time spent hiking and viewing wolves from a helicopter. I appreciated the final chapter that helps put into perspective Mech's early discoveries about wolf behavior and what others have added over the next 50 years.

[Becky Loader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mech studied the wolf/moose dynamic on Isle Royle, and he has written a detailed report on the fluctuations in their habitat.

I had to request a book on wolves from the library because I needed more details about the ancestors of domestic dogs.

[Claire Sudol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rolf Peterson! John Vucetich! Dave Mech!

[Ally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad but think I learnt more about moose than about wolves.

[Barb Middleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I worked in Yellowstone Park in the 80s when there were no wolves and over the years have seen an abundance of more diverse wildlife since they returned. My family has followed the reintroduction of them and gone to the wolf center in Minnesota. If you love wildlife then you’ll enjoy this book about the Isle Royale wolves as recounted by the author who through research and study has been influential in the understanding of this beautiful creature.

[Anett Kovacs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wolf Island is a fascinating account of David Mech's study of wolves in their natural habitat which spanned over several years. The uniqueness of this project lies in the fact that the research was done in a naturally quasi-contained area (Isle Royale in Lake Superior), allowing Mech and his colleagues to monitor the predator-prey relationship between wolves and moose.
All in all Wolf Island is a highly interesting narration of three winters and summers spent studying a fascinating animal.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1958, the young graduate student Dave Mech and Dr. Durwood Allen visited Isle Royale to begin planning research on the wolves and moose on the island. They were accompanied by a group of wildlife experts, including one experienced wolf biologist, who formed an advisory committee. The Isle Royale was unique in that while it was a National Park, there were no roads, no year-round residents, the island was isolated from other land masses, and it was a perfect chance to study distinct groups of wolves and moose. It wasn’t likely that the population would be affected by loosing or gaining members through migration.

Over a period of three years, Dave Mech did field research for a few weeks each summer, and a few weeks each winter. The book is full of detailed experiences of viewing the wolves, sometimes getting very close to them. Watching them hunt and play, seeing how hard it is for even a pack of wolves to bring down a moose, doing aerial counts of the wolves and moose, and always collecting wolf scat.

What I enjoyed the most was the personal stories of Dave and the others who worked and lived on the island. Dave and his wife lived in a guest cabin that was like something the pioneers in the 1800s would live in. The photo with Betty Ann Mech washing clothes in an ancient, gas powered washer was priceless.

While learning so much about the wolves and moose, it was also a story of a lifestyle that no longer existed; the small-scale commercial fishing on the island collapsed when an invasive species entered Lake Ontario and decimated the trout population. An interesting group of people had lived and fished commercially during summers, many who had been there so long they remembered before the wolves and moose arrived. One couple had been there since 1916 and told Dave of the changes in fauna and flora over the years. It was fascinating. Dave’s relationships with other people on the island that helped balance the scientific research with more of a memoir. And the photos! Wow, just wow.

In 1970, while in high school, I wanted to study wolves and bought a book published by the U.S, Government Printing Office, published in 1966, The Wolves of Isle Royale, from a series on the Fauna of the National Parks. It was basically Dave’s doctorial thesis. Being able to read of Dave’s adventures on the island as a memoir was a special treat.

I received an ARC of Wolf Island from NetGalley and this is my honest review.

[Kim Cabrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. L. David Mech is one of the first biologists to study wolves on Isle Royale. In this book, he details the first years of the study, from 1958 to 1961. This ground-breaking study is still ongoing today, making it the longest running study in all of the scientific community.

This study took place in Isle Royale, which is part of the Isle Royale National Park. Located in Lake Superior, this park experiences some climate extremes that make fieldwork outdoors a challenge. Dr. Mech’s study used aircraft to fly over the snow-covered island in winter to track wolves from the air. The pilots were able to land the plane so that Mech could hike into any sites that needed closer examination from the ground. Mech obtained photos of wolves and moose from the air and these provided some of the first glimpses into the lives of these two species on the island. During summers, Mech and his wife lived on the island in an old fishing cabin and he hiked the trails to study wolves and moose from the ground.

This study has been continuously operated since those early days, providing incredible amounts of data to the scientific community. I first read about this study 25 years ago in college and was fascinated by it. This is the first account I have read that was written by Mech, who is a conservation hero of mine. It is am amazing firsthand look into the challenges and rewards of his amazing fieldwork. I really enjoyed how he was able to recognize wolf and moose tracks from the air and follow those to find the interactions that made up the details of the lives of these animals.

The writing style is very easy to read. The author has a very personable, welcoming style. The stories he tells are engaging and have plenty of details that will appeal to biologists and wolf fans alike. He makes the story accessible to all audiences. The appeal of wolves can’t be denied. They are the most amazing, secretive, and elusive animals that many of us can only dream of seeing in the wild. This book provides and look at their lives from the perspective of a man who spent decades studying them. I highly recommend this book.

[Susan J · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The World’s leading wolf expert describes the first years of a major study that transformed our understanding of one of nature’s most iconic creatures”

Isle Royale, Lake Superior. A small pack of wolves crossed the ice to the national park Isle Royale on Lake Superior in the 1940s’. Not many people visit this park, making it the perfect place for a study on animal behaviour and predator/prey relationships. When the study began in the 1950’s very little was known about wolves or their behaviour. They were considered dangerous, they were culled, and they have been seen as rivals to farmers and human hunters — they were considered to be destructive killers with an insatiable appetite. The studies done by Mech and other biologists show that wolves are not that. Also, this research set other research in motion on other animals.

This book talks about the study that was done on the Island, and Mech’s participation in it, from 1958-1961. I was delighted to receive this book for review, since I have been interested in this type of biology since I took an intro biology course in my first year of university, many many years ago. I had a professor who really sold me on just how fascinating this kind of wildlife interdependency study is. I have been aware of Mech and his research since then.

I read and enjoyed the whole book, and have been seeking out other books. Thank you for this. It really is the place to go for anything that you want to know about wolves, and about predator-prey behaviour. Two truths that are reinforced here are that 1) prey animals that stand their ground are less likely to be killed, and 2) everything depends on everything else in this world.

I am giving this book 5 stars for readability, enjoyability and because the study is important and it is also important that it be accessible. It is non-fiction, memoir, but it is also great science writing and anyone interested in science writing, ecology and animal behaviour will enjoy it.

[Lori Schiele · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the winter of 1959, an eager young graduate student named David Mech began a 3-year study on the long-term balance of predators and prey, using an island in Lake Superior named Isle Royale as his "laboratory". The animals in question were wolves and moose and the research that was uncovered helped unlock the mystery of one of nature's most revered (and reviled) animals--the wolf. Back in 1959, almost nothing was known about these carnivores: how did they hunt? what was their family unit like? how far did they travel to hunt? What was their main prey source? were they dangerous to humans? None of these things had ever been able to be accurately studied--until now. With an island population of approximately 22 wolves and 1000-1500 moose.

When David Mech took on the project, he never could have guessed that, not only would it change everything we knew about wolves, but that it would make him one of the most well-renown wolf biologists in the world.
And even after his 3-year study was over, the study of the wolves and moose on Isle Royale has continued--the longest continuous study (over 60 years and counting).

A well-documented and well-told tale as seen through the eyes of one of the people that I have admired most in my life. Wolf Island is a must-read for any who have ever wanted a close encounter with a pack of wolves, but will settle for seeing them live day to day, through thick and thin, through horror and triumph, through the eyes of L. David Mech.

[Tabseattle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Wolf Island by L. David Mech. As an Inquiry Biologist, I am fascinated by stories that so thoroughly illustrate how we come to understand the nuances of a particular species, habitat, and the predator-prey balance. Mech's memoir begins in 1958 with the task of discovering the truth about the ability of wolves to kill prey; were they ruthless killing machines as often described or necessary predators keeping another species healthy and in check?

One of the things I enjoyed the most about this book was getting a glimpse into not only how one conducts true inquiry, but to experience the wonders of Isle Royale through Mech's eyes. The wolves and moose were the main characters, along with the other fauna that had made their way to this secluded outpost of an island, In addition, we experience the challenges that the the bush pilots, David's family, and the resident fisherman and rangers endured.

The wolf research that Mech established continues to be the foundation of wolf research today. I appreciated the bird's eye view into the first three years of the Isle Royale wolves, especially in light of the recent efforts to transplant wolves after they had died out due to inbreeding after the island was hit with canine parvovirus.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in nature, memoir, and scientific adventures.

[Luke Koran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isle Royale. Even that name sparks the imagination, wouldn't you agree? If you’re from the Upper Midwest and have not heard of this royal island flowing with moose and situated in the middle of Lake Superior, don’t worry, because I was in the same boat until 2017 when my Boy Scout troop ventured there. When I first saw the island and entered Washington Harbor on a ferry ride from Grand Portage, MN, I knew I was entering a special place. A week, miles of hiking and 11 moose sightings later, I came away with a new appreciation for nature and this majestic national park.

As one of the first researchers of Isle Royale - and the first to study the predator-prey relationship between wolves and moose on the island - six decades ago, Dr. David Mech relates the data that makes up his doctoral thesis. Though mostly confined to aerial observations of one large wolf pack across three winters, Mech’s data represented a crucial stepping stone in developing new theories on wolves as hunters, pack animals and social creatures. As I had a vested interest in Isle Royale, I eagerly devoured these pages and often referred back to the map to see where the author encountered various wolf hunts and other meetings with people and nature. Not a shabby read, though a few more conclusions and follow-up on the continuing Isle Royale study would have been appreciated.

[Tove R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[M.C. Ryder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've loved wolves since I was a young girl and would always buy books, mostly for the captivating images of the wolves. I have been following L. David Mech for a long time, and as soon as I saw Wolf Island released, I did not hesitate to pick it up. Although there are no additional images within the pages, this book takes me back in time when he was starting out his career as a wolf biologist. There is so much more knowledge about wolves today through his research and other biologist's research, but it was nice reading the origins of the research. Traveling by foot several miles. Watching from plane. Observing the moose and wolf population. There's even an individual he worked with who despised wolves and learned to respect the hard work it takes for wolves to hunt the moose on the island. Wolves risk their lives every day to eat a good meal. So many take for granted what it means to live in the wild fighting and hunting for a basic necessity. Wolves have a social structure too, like humans. They work together as a team. Alone, survival is grueling. The first step is always to try to understand what you misunderstand.