Wild Animal Story

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the wild animal story emerged in Canadian literature as a distinct genre, in which animals pursue their own interestsOCosurvival for themselves, their offspring, and perhaps a mate, or the pure pleasure of their wildness.

Bringing together some of the most celebrated wild animal stories, Ralph H. Lutts places them firmly in the context of heated controversies about animal intelligence and purposeful behavior. Widely regarded as entertaining and educational, the early storiesOCoby Charles G. D. Roberts, Ernest Thompson Seton, John Muir, Jack London and othersOCohad an avid readership among adults and children. But some naturalists and at least one hunterOCoTheodore RooseveltOCodiscredited these writers as nature fakers, accusing them of falsely portraying animal behavior.

The stories and commentaries collected here span the twentieth century. As present day animal behaviorists, psychologists, and the public attempt to sort out the meaning of what animals do and our obligations to them, Ralph Lutts maps some of the prominent features of our cultural landscape. Tales include: OCo "The Springfield Fox" by Ernest Thompson Seton
OCo "The Sounding of the Call" by Jack London
OCo "Stickeen" by John Muir
OCo "Journey to the Sea" by Rachel Carson

Other selections include esssays by Theoore Roosevelt, John Burroughs, Margaret Atwood, and Ralph H. Lutts. postamble();"