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Where did Jack London get so much insight on wolves?

Forums: Wolves, Jack London, Literature, Dogs, Society
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hamilton
 
Reply Thu 9 Jun, 2011 06:09 am
I was reading white fang, and it occured to me that they did not have any way to study wolves in his time.
Where did he get his stuff?
this is NOT a homework assignment.
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Type: Discussion • Score: 5 • Views: 3,753 • Replies: 21
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BillRM
 
  1  
Reply Thu 9 Jun, 2011 06:52 am
@hamilton,
His book have almost nothing to do with real wolves behaviors or dog behaviors for that matter and he just had them doing went he needed them to do to carry his story.
InfraBlue
 
  1  
Reply Thu 9 Jun, 2011 01:17 pm
@BillRM,
That's pretty much the gist of it.

He anthromorphized his animal characters.
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chai2
 
  1  
Reply Thu 9 Jun, 2011 01:31 pm
That's what I was going to say.

Where did you get that Jack London had any insight on wolves?
djjd62
 
  1  
Reply Thu 9 Jun, 2011 01:49 pm
@hamilton,
he was a werewolf
0 Replies
 
raprap
 
  2  
Reply Thu 9 Jun, 2011 02:15 pm
@hamilton,
Jack London was from 19th century San Francisco. He observed the two legged wolves that inhabited the Barbary Coast.

Rap
0 Replies
 
hamilton
 
  1  
Reply Fri 17 Jun, 2011 12:21 pm
@chai2,
well, it sounds like what a wolf would do in his books.
chai2
 
  1  
Reply Fri 17 Jun, 2011 12:25 pm
@hamilton,
of course it sounds like what a wolf would do in his books. It's his book.
hamilton
 
  1  
Reply Fri 17 Jun, 2011 12:27 pm
@chai2,
thats not what i meant.
let me rephrase that.
in his books, the wolves behave as i think they would, to the best of my understanding, in real life.
chai2
 
  1  
Reply Fri 17 Jun, 2011 12:31 pm
@hamilton,
How do you know how they would behave?
hamilton
 
  1  
Reply Fri 17 Jun, 2011 12:32 pm
@chai2,
http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/PPT/Ecology/observations_of_behavior_on_the_.htm
just found this.
0 Replies
 
hamilton
 
  1  
Reply Fri 17 Jun, 2011 12:33 pm
@chai2,
to the best of my understanding, i said.
0 Replies
 
hamilton
 
  1  
Reply Fri 17 Jun, 2011 12:36 pm
@chai2,
although its not very good.
0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Fri 17 Jun, 2011 12:40 pm
@hamilton,
hamilton wrote:
it occured to me that they did not have any way to study wolves in his time.


I'm curious why you think wolf behaviour has not been studied by humans over the centuries.
hamilton
 
  1  
Reply Fri 17 Jun, 2011 12:41 pm
@ehBeth,
well, how would he know what goes on in the cave, what goes on when theres no one but the wolves around? at that time period, finding a pack of wolves could be considered bad luck.
ossobuco
 
  1  
Reply Fri 17 Jun, 2011 12:48 pm
<all this is making me want to read up, more than I already have casually over the years, on wolf behavior>



hamilton
 
  1  
Reply Fri 17 Jun, 2011 12:49 pm
@ossobuco,
casual reading is the best form of reading...
0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Fri 17 Jun, 2011 02:02 pm
@hamilton,
Humans have been co-existing with, and studying wolves, for hundreds/thousands of years.

Think of the cave paintings of wolves that have been discovered in Europe and North America. There is evidence that people and wolves have been watching /studying each other for a long time.

BillRM
 
  1  
Reply Fri 17 Jun, 2011 02:37 pm
@ehBeth,
Dogs are Wolves for the most part and the latest theory is that humans evolved with wolves/dogs together and they was a very important in the survival of humans hunters/gathers tribes.

Note wolves almost never attack humans.
0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Fri 17 Jun, 2011 03:48 pm
@hamilton,
If you're interested in learning more about wolves, I recommend articles and books by Dr. John Theberge.

http://communications.uwaterloo.ca/Gazette/2000/mar08/theberge.html

or see if your library will bring in this documentary

http://www.factualtv.com/documentary/Natural-Kingdom-Collection-Language-of-Wolves


(disclaimer: I got my share of homework assignments from Dr. Theberge some 30+ years ago)
 

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