learns even more about wolves from Ootek,who as a native of the area has observed the animals all his life. When Mowat asks about the huge pile of caribou bones near a cabin,Ootek explains that most trappers kill hundreds of caribou each year as food for their sled dogs.Ootek points out that the wolves eat fish and squirrels, but that they kill only sick or elderly caribou. Mowat realizes that careless humans, not wolves, are responsible for the drop in the caribou population