preview

Ninemile Wolves by Rick Bass

Decent Essays

The Ninemile Wolves is a compelling nonfiction story told by Rick Bass, while Bass approaches the wolves with a mixture of awe, compassion, and fascination; others in the area are less welcoming, including some local ranchers, hunters and politicians. The wolves are studied by Bass, Rick Jimenez, and others of how they are endeavoring for their presence in the Ninemile Valley in Montana. Bass consumes his reader into his work by using both scientific and spiritual relevance of the wolves, and how they balance the ecosystem. While the biologist are cheering for the survival of the Ninemile pack ranchers, hunters, and politicians are concerned that they will attack livestock and decimate the population of elk and deer. However, despite all the stereotypes put into place the wolves survive off small mammals, and stray away from large pray. Bass anthropomorphizes the wolves by saying they have a soul like humans, and their spirit has an effect on the Ninemile Valley. In the begging chapters the first set of wolves were found on a rancher’s property, the rancher let them stay long enough for the pups to mature; a month later, after attacks on dogs and calves, probably by coyotes, the wolves were removed, kept in captivity for several weeks and released. One pup escaped, and then was captured; the other two died of starvation. The Montana Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Preservation asked the USFWS to remove the pups because they might affect Montana's biggest cash crop:

Get Access