This is a more comprehensive book than I at first expected it to be. While it follows in the footsteps of [b: Fox|1902241|The Adoration of Jenna Fox (Jenna Fox Chronicles, #1)|Mary E. Pearson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388715600s/1902241.jpg|1903936] by having some disinformation in it concerning the care and management of wolf-dog-hybrids, for the most part this is a very good book about the habits of grey wolves, red foxes, and coyotes. They compare the animals to show how some canidae behavior is true across the board, and highlight some of the differences in a respectful manner. At the back of the book is a breakdown of the variety of fox and wolf species in North America, with a nod to the mad number of coyote subspecies (in this book estimated at 19) and wolf subspecies. Only a brief mention is given to the red wolf controversy.

I respect the manner in which the author writes. The pictures are positively stunning as well, an teh respect he affords his animal subjects is high. There are only a few moments where his writing gave me pause. Primarily when he talked about the alpha dogs in the wolf pack, although he did end up backtracking a bit to explain the fallacy of that myth. The main issues I had with the book were in regards to the hybridization of the Eastern Coyote, Red Wolf, etc. Due to decreases in territory there has been pretty extensive mating between wolves, coyotes, and dogs in the North East. This canis soupus has spread as far south as here in MD, and is easily seen by the size and coloring of the coyotes.

You can even see them in golden retriever yellow.

Further, breeding coydogs has happened for centuries here in America. The Native Americans used to do it, and in the west it is still occasionally done to produce superior hunting dogs. While it is good to discourage this, saying it never happens is naive. Same with wolf dogs. Calling all wolf dogs dangerous is a discredit to the proper breeding that can go into producing them and responsible owners who care for the animals.

Still, all in all this is a beautiful and well-researched book. It's worth checking out for the photos alone, the good information within it is just a bonus to what is already great visual content. ( )