Being Caribou: Five Months on Foot with an Arctic Herd (The World As Home) [Paperback]

Karsten Heuer (Author)

Book Description

Series: The World As Home | Publication Date: January 28, 2008

For eons, female members of the Porcupine caribou herd have made the 2,800-mile journey from their winter feeding grounds to their summer calving grounds. They once roamed borderless wilderness; now they trek from Canada, where they're protected, to the United States, where they are not. What's more, beneath the calving grounds lay vast reserves of oil. Determined to convey both the enormity of the caribous’ migration and the delicacy of their habitat, Karsten Heuer and his wife spent their honeymoon following the herd. For five months, they traveled an uncharted course on foot over mountains, through snow, and across frozen rivers, with only three semi-scheduled food drops for support. As with the caribou, Heuer and his wife faced dwindling fat reserves and stalking by ravenous grizzlies and wolves just awakened from hibernation. Both a rousing adventure story and a sober ecological meditation, Being Caribou vividly conveys this magnificent animal's world.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

On assignment, Canadian wildlife biologist and newly minted park ranger Heuer found himself surrounded by caribou as at least 10,000 cows and calves streamed by on their annual migration. Spurred by this vast movement of animals and by the news that their calving grounds lie in the heart of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge--the area most contested between oil companies and environmentalists--the author and his wife decided to follow the herd from its wintering grounds to the calving area and back again. Accompanying the caribou across the trackless tundra, cross-country skiing when possible, the two repeatedly found and lost the caribou as they struggled to keep up. Sitting in their tent between calving caribou cows, and following the herd as it makes its way back to Canada, the Heuers realize that they are moving to and guided by forces beyond human understanding--that they are being caribou. A marvelous, elegiac book. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Karsten Heuer [is] a man with a great imagination and an even greater dream.”
— Don Starkell, author of Paddle to the Amazon

“Walking the Big Wild . . . will make you want to put on your boots and head for the woods.”
— Bruce Kirkby, author of Sand Dance --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions; First Trade Paper Edition edition (January 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571313087
• ISBN-13: 978-1571313089
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #817,256 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 1st rate adventure tale and environmental lesson about ANWR, January 3, 2006

By 

NWOutdoorGrrl (Kirkland, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Being Caribou: Seven Months on Foot with an Arctic Herd (Hardcover)

Thanks to the Bush administration, the debate about oil drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is still strong in congress. Wanting to have a deeper understanding of the land and the animals that live on it, I picked up Being Caribou last month. Winner of the 2005 Banff Mountain Book Festival grand prize, it is the true account of wildlife biologist Karsten Heuer and filmmaker Leanne Allison, who set out on a five month trek, following the migration of more than 120,000 caribou.

It is first and foremost an amazing account of a couple that traveled by foot and by skis - sometimes as much as 20 miles a day - through some pretty unforgiving terrian. I've never been stalked by a grizzly bear, but I now know what it must be like to be faced with one that wants to make you into dinner. The two paid attention to their dreams, listened to the music of the earth, and ultimately learned what it is to "be caribou."

More compelling, however, was the information that puts the oil supply in perspective and dispels many of the politician-generated myths about ANWR.

Did you know that the supply of oil under ANWR represents a mere 6-month supply of oil for the United States and that it would take ten years or more for it to hit the market? Huh?! Our President wants to destroy the calving grounds for 120,000 animals for a mere 0.3% of world oil production in 2016?

The environmental impact - not only to the caribou and other animals, but to the land itself - is also quite interesting. We don't hear about it, but Prudhoe Bay has an average of one oil spill a day. Geez!

The book is a quick read, and I'd highly recommend it. If you don't have time for the whole meal deal, though, you can get a reader's digest version of their trek and the issues surrounding drilling in ANWR from the Web at beingcaribou - dot - com.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Being Caribou, May 9, 2006

By 

K. Freeman (Apple Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Being Caribou: Seven Months on Foot with an Arctic Herd (Hardcover)

Karsten Heuer and his wife, Leanne, follow the Porcupine Herd of caribou in their migration to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Not only an interesting memoir of a journey fraught with difficult ground, mosquitoes and grizzly bears, but a moving account of the many dangers faced by caribou as they struggle to survive -- dangers that will be increased if the ANWR is opened to oil exploration and drilling. Heuer's writing successfully evokes the connection he and Leanne come to feel with the caribou and their alienation from the artificial rush of civilization.

The book makes a powerful argument for lasting conservationist values and against destruction for the short-term profit of a few. It seems too much to hope, though, that it will actually be able to do any good.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving and Inspiring Tale, January 31, 2006

By 

k. "redhead" (new york state) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Being Caribou: Seven Months on Foot with an Arctic Herd (Hardcover)

Being Caribou was my favorite book of 2005. Not only do you get the adventure story, information on the ANWR oil issues, and a real glimpse of the life of a Porcupine caribou, you also get to know Karsten & Leanne through their journey.

I highly recommend as well the film of the journey (available from HeronDance-dot-org and the National Film Board of Canada). I was so moved by it that I bought 6 more copies for holiday gifts.

If you enjoy the outdoors, are concerned about the environment, are contemplating a long trip of your own, or simply question the sanity of a newlywed couple who treks across the Arctic for 5 months... check out Being Caribou. It's worth the read.