Lopez writes of the animals he encounters in the Arctic with great respect and sensitivity, quietly questioning the distances of skill and capability we often assume separate us from them, particularly in terms of the extent to which they are merely instinct driven, rather than individual agents of experiment and learning.
‘…at a distance a tundra grizzly rises on its hind legs to study you; the dish-shaped paws of its front legs deathly still, the stance so human it is unnerving.’
Source: Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams, p. xxv
