In his long-awaited memoir, McIntyre offers valuable lessons about wolves and our relationships with wildlife.

His newest book is a must-read for people who want to and may have a life like his and those who never will.

McIntyre is a master at seamlessly weaving the latest science into fascinating new stories about wolves.

Extremely few people have had a life like that of award-winning wolf expert Rick McIntyre, author of the “Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone” series for adults and “The Chronicles of the Yellowstone Wolves” series for kids with co-author David A. Poulsen.1 Celebrated as the most prolific wolf observer in the world—called "the ultimate guru of wolf behavior” by Jane Goodall—with more than 100,000 sightings of wild wolves, his new book My Life With Wolves: How I Became the Storyteller for the Yellowstone Packs is a most-welcomed, more personal addition to this outstanding series.

The description of his fascinating book tells it all, and I'm thrilled that Rick could take the time to offer more insights into his amazing life and the wolves he studied.

"This book chronicles Rick’s journey, explains his values, and brings readers up to date on the latest dramas of the Junction Butte pack in Yellowstone. Along the way, this tale is threaded through with Rick’s calm assertiveness in the face of conflict, his wise dealings with humans and animals alike, and his gentle sense of humor—like the time a woman excitedly thought she saw a grizzly bear through his telescope and Rick had to break it to her that what she saw was really an … Arctic ground squirrel."

"This book chronicles Rick’s journey, explains his values, and brings readers up to date on the latest dramas of the Junction Butte pack in Yellowstone. Along the way, this tale is threaded through with Rick’s calm assertiveness in the face of conflict, his wise dealings with humans and animals alike, and his gentle sense of humor—like the time a woman excitedly thought she saw a grizzly bear through his telescope and Rick had to break it to her that what she saw was really an … Arctic ground squirrel."

As I read and reread his previous five books and interviews, I always wanted to know more, and I'm sure others did as well. I've had many people ask me questions about Rick's amazing life that, up until now, I couldn't answer. But now I can, and they can too.

Marc Bekoff: Why did you write your memoir?

Rick McIntyre: I had previously published five books about my 31 years of experiences researching wolves in Yellowstone National Park and documenting their life stories. I felt it was time to write about what events in my earlier life led me to have a career with the National Park Service, first as a firefighter, then as a park naturalist, and later as a wolf researcher.

MB: What drew you to studying wild wolves?

RM: I am especially interested in wolf social behavior because it is similar in so many ways to human social behavior. A typical 10-member wolf pack is much like an extended human family. The pack members would include the alpha pair, their current pups, older offspring, and other adults who might be siblings of the alphas. Like us, wolves have to deal with rivalries and competition for leadership positions. But they also have to cooperate when hunting prey animals such as bison, who can be 10 to 20 times the size and weight of an adult wolf. They also have to cooperate to defend their territory when a rival wolf pack attacks them.

MB: Do wolves have personalities? Can you tell us more about wolves 40 and 42?

RM: Within a pack, there can be a wide range of personalities. I studied sister wolves from the same litter who had vastly different personalities. Wolf 40 had a violent character and killed all of her sister’s (wolf 42's) pups two years in a row. Wolf 42 spent the next year putting together an alliance of younger females, and when 40 showed up at her sister’s den the following spring, 42’s alliance stood up to 40. They defeated her, and she died of her injuries later in the day.

The aftermath of that incident was especially interesting to document: 42 raised her sister’s pups alongside her own pups and helped raise the pups born to the younger females. One of 40’s pups became an alpha female when she grew up and behaved very much like 42, the aunt who raised her, rather than her own mother.

MB: Have you ever documented wolves who make radical changes in their behavior?

RM: The best example of that would be wolf 302. His father was a classic alpha male who devoted his life to raising his pups, feeding his family, and protecting his pack from rival wolves. When his son 302 grew up, he seemed to be the exact opposite of his father. Every mating season, 302 would leave home, get numerous females pregnant, then abandon them and go back to his parents.

When 302 was an old wolf, he finally settled down. He formed his own pack and became a reliable alpha male and did a good job of raising his pups. On the last day of his life, he died successfully protecting his pups when a rival wolf pack attacked his family.

MB: Can you tell us more about some aspects of wolf behavior that surprised you?

RM: I am always fascinated by individual wolves who live their lives by their own rules. Wolf 1048 was a big male who seemed to have no interest in starting his own pack or achieving alpha male status. Rather than fighting with other males, 1048 developed a friendly demeanor that enabled him to walk into the territories of other wolves and be accepted into their packs. He also befriended females throughout the year, and they seemed to remember that when the next mating season came along.

Female 907 was another wolf who had an especially interesting life story. She gained and lost the alpha female position four times during her long life and suffered the loss of many of her pups. But whatever setback or defeat afflicted her, 907 always moved forward in life. I recall the time toward the end of her life when she was trying to kill a cow bison to feed her family. Wolf 907 approached the bison from the rear, and the cow kicked her in the chest so hard the wolf flew backwards through the air. Wolf 907 crashed to the ground but got right up and charged at the bison a second time. But she got kicked in the face by her adversary on that attempt. Only then did she look for an easier target.

Later, when she was a very old wolf, 907 fought a pack of 18 wolves by herself. She survived the fight, but her injuries later proved fatal. Wolf 907 was the epitome of a strong, self-sufficient female who lived her life by her own rules.

MB: What type of feedback do you get from people who read your books?

Due to being out in Yellowstone every day, I talk to a lot of people about the wolf stories in my books. I recall a married couple that came up to me one day. The wife complimented me on the books, then said her husband used to go out every fall to kill wolves. She got him to read some of the books, and he stopped shooting wolves. He nodded and said, “Yes, I used to hunt and kill wolves, but I don’t do that anymore.”

In conversation with Rick McIntyre, a retired park ranger and the author of the award-winning "Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone" book series for adults and the "Chronicles of the Yellowstone Wolves" book series for children (with co-author David A. Poulsen).

1. For more on Rick's outstanding work see The Story of Yellowstone Wolf 8: From Underdog to Alpha Male; The Reign of Wolf 21, Yellowstone's Benevolent Alpha Male; The Redemption of Yellowstone's Renegade Alpha Wolf 302; The Power and Legacy of Yellowstone's Alpha Female Wolf 06; and "Thinking Like a Wolf": Pack Politics, Power, and Personalities. For another enlightening and inspirational story about a remarkable woman's life with wolves, see an interview with Diane Boyd titled Lessons From 40 Years Among Wolves. Rick's endorsement for her book reads, "In this fascinating account of how wolf research is carried out, Boyd describes in marvelous detail the struggles and successes of wild wolves and biologists who study them. Highly recommended.”

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