QUESTIONS ABOUT
NEVER CRY WOLF
Part 1
Farley Mowat describes his experience studying wolves in northern Canada. He writes with
humor and exaggeration. As you read, keep in mind both the serious intent of Farley’s message
and how he makes his points. Here are examples from Chapter 1: He writes “When I was five
years old I had still not given any indication – as most gifted children do well before that age – of
where my future lay.” and means, “I was not a gifted child.” “My cousin, who…was some years
older than myself, had already found his métier, which lay in the military field, and had amassed
a formidable army of lead soldiers with which he was single-mindedly preparing himself to
become a second Wellington. My loutish inability to play Napoleon exasperated him so much
that he refused to have anything to do with me…” means that his cousin wanted him to play
soldier but that Mowat was not willing to be always the loser at the battle of Waterloo.
“Grandfather…could hear the word ‘whiskey’ if it were whispered in a room three stories
removed from where he sat.” means that his grandfather liked to drink.
Preface
1. Where are Keewatin Territory and Manitoba? How long does the author spend there?
2. Wolves once had a symbiotic relationship with humans and were the second most
successful animal species. What changed that?
Chapter 1 – The Lupine Project
3. The book begins when the author is five. Describe his family.
4. What animals does he bring home to his grandparents’ home? What is their fate?
5. Two men influenced the author’s love for studying animals. What did those men study?
6. Where does he get his first job after college? Why there?
7. He is assigned to the “wolf problem.” What is the problem with wolves?
Chapter 2 – Wolf Juice
8. Churchill is the Canadian city on the west coast of the Hudson Bay where tourists go to
see polar bears. Why do the people of Churchill conclude Farley has come north?
9. What inconsistency is there in the telegram telling Farley to hold his to ten words?
10. Wolves, Farley learns from local residents are vicious creatures that will kill any type of
human except one. Which one is that? How many caribou does a single wolf kill every year?
11. What is wolf-juice? To make his own wolf-juice, what substitution does Farley make?
Chapter 3 – Happy Landings
