Wild Animals: Our Natural Allies

In this 2024 conversation with Justine Willis Toms, Peterson directs us to look beyond the companionship we enjoy with our domesticated animal friends, and invites us to explore how wild animals can become our guides and fellow travelers, helping us navigate the stresses of daily life on a rapidly changing planet. She shares the poignant story of an elderly woman who had Alzheimer’s and lost her memory of friends, family, and even her own name. But this doyenne knew the birds, and knew who she was as she came weekly to feed the gulls. She also shares the story of working with animal allies that empowered young teens in a classroom setting. She highights the need for playfulness that enhances our survival. Peterson delights us with her many adventures with dolphins, beluga whales, orcas, and wolves.As a young child, Peterson’s original playmates were wild animals. She grew up in a Forest Service lookout cabin in a forest preserve on the border of California and Oregon. Her father was a forest ranger, later to become the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service.  Her books include:Build Me an Ark: A Life with Animals (W. W. Norton 2001)Duck and Cover (Backinprint.com 2004)I Want to Be Left Behind: Finding Rapture Here on Earth (Da Capo Press 2010)Wolf Haven: Sanctuary and the Future of Wolves in North America (coauthor Annie Marie Musselman) (Sasquatch Books 2016)Wolf Nation: The Life, Death, and Return of Wild American Wolves (Da Capo Press 2017)Wild Chorus: Finding Harmony with Whales, Wolves, and Other Animals (Mountaineers Books 2024)Interview Date: 3/5/2024      Tags: Brenda Peterson, Noah’s Ark, Orcas, beluga whales, dolphins, wolves, animal allies, Stuart Brown, Jane Goodall, Animals, Ecology/Nature/ Environment