“The Rise of Wolf 8: Witnessing the Triumph of Yellowstone’s Underdog” by Rick McIntyre
I have always been one to root for the underdog and I greatly admire grit. This is a true story of an underdog with great grit! From his early days of being the runt of the litter when the wolves were being reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park into his last days, Wolf 8 believes in himself and protects his family. When he was a yearling, still smaller than his siblings, the three encountered a bear and his brothers ran into the woods while Wolf 8 stood his ground, looked the bear in the eyes, and the bear soon decided to turn around and leave. Wolf 8 protected his siblings and stood up to a bear when his brothers and nobody else was looking to see his bravery and resolve. Soon, Wolf 8 bonds with an alpha female, who had lost her mate to a shooting, and Wolf 8 quickly plays with the alpha female’s pups and becomes their adopted father. Later, in order to protect his family, the powerful descriptive scene of Wolf 8 running uphill to fight the wolf who killed his father leaves a great impression on the reader and further shows the character of Wolf 8. Other challenges including one with an adopted son really helps us understand that all wolves are not the same and we have more in common with them than this reader realized.
“The Reign of Wolf 21: The Saga of Yellowstone’s Legendary Druid Pack” by Rick McIntyre
I didn’t think I could like any wolf story as much as I liked Wolf 8’s story, but I was wrong. Wolf 8 adopted Wolf 21 and Wolf 21 looked up to his adopted father and took on many of his characteristics, but also had some all his own. For more than an impressive 10 years, the Druid Peak Pack had a remarkable leader in Wolf 21, a brave and fierce leader who never killed the rival males he fought, was deeply committed to his life-mate, humbly played with his pups, and chose to die alone in a quiet mountain top where he had spent a lot of time with his compatible mate and their pups through the years.
Rick McIntyre is an excellent writer whose narrative moves the true stories along while still including loads of details, information, and insights. I will read the rest of the “The Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone” series. There are a total of five books in the series. I may just read all of Rick McIntyre’s books; so far, they are excellent reads that I eagerly share as the images and the stories of these strong wolves stick with me.