Never Cry Wolf: The Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves

Caribou are a large subspecies of reindeer native to the arctic regions of the earth. While herds in different regions have distinct behavior patterns, the largest extant caribou herd migrates annually from the northernmost mountains, through the barren tundra, and into the forest areas south. For centuries, these vast herds have provided a food source both for the Indigenous Inuit and also for arctic wolves. There are varying estimates for the number of extant caribou throughout Canada.

The Barrens, or Barren Grounds or Barrenlands, are a vast swath of subarctic tundra covering 20% of the Canadian land mass. For the most part unpopulated, the Barrens are treeless and so lacking in vegetation that large herbivores pass through only to migrate. Farley demonstrated in The Lupine Project that wolf packs established distinct hunting reserves and remained in place throughout most of the year.

An esker is a long ridge formed from gravel and sediment from retreating ice or a glacier. Farley initially observed his wolf pack in their den in an esker running parallel to a lake, where they remained until the four pups became too large for the hollowed den. The den in this esker was familiar to the Inuit, who had observed different wolf families occupying it for decades.

Desiderata is the plural form of desideratum, meaning “something that one desires.” Farley uses the term multiple times in the narrative as a collective description of the supplies and equipment provided for his study by the Canadian Dominion Wildlife Service and transported to the Barrens. His use of the term implies a certain scornful attitude on his part, implying that the desiderata he received did not coincide either with what he was promised or what he actually needed to complete the project.