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Carnivorous and Omnivores Animals, Excluding Felids
Wolverine (Gulo gulo)
Wolverine (Gulo gulo)
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Wolverine (Gulo gulo)
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 (05-03-2019, 05:17 PM)Sanju Wrote:(05-03-2019, 05:01 PM)Shadow Wrote: Real wolverine is much more interesting than myth about some "superanimal" :) It is just like all other animals and very fascinating while trying to survive in harsh environment and competition. It is true, that many animals have reputation making them look like something else, than they are in reality. But what comes to wolverines, they often look like to be in that category "over the top". Even some books written to make it look like some little devil able to do whatever it wants and kill bears and who knows what. Maybe it is good, that no elephants living up north, otherwise we would have some story about such case too  Of course it is able to do impressive things, but then again it is very small and it doesn´t live and hunt in packs. It´s nice, that some animal gets attention, but when it is all the time exaggerated it can cause also trouble if people really start to think, that it´s more dangerous than it is in reality. That can lead to many animals to be shot when in sight just like that. Wolverines have bad reputation especially in areas where people own reindeer, so I don´t think, that it should be made any worse by creating stories about some imaginary "badass" able and willing to attack and kill everything around it, while reality is not like that at all. It is wild animal, doing the best it can to live and do it´s part in nature, not some little maniac killing machine :)
One interesting article about carnivore competition in Yellowstone, concerning wolverines and other predators there.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/05/19/in-yellowstone-its-a-carnivore-competition/5da6d8a1-4ee6-4fad-a555-188650cf0f4a/?utm_term=.35039dfadea3
I noticed a quite new article about wolverines. That is in Finnish, so impossible to read for most members here and google translator... well it can be tried of course if interest. Anyway a lot of that article is about reindeer and wolverines in Finland, Sweden and Norway and how reindeer owner gets compensation when reindeers are killed by wolverines.
But there are also some descriptions of old myths about wolverines, it was interesting to see how old and what kind. I put here quotes and rough translations :) Swedish historian Olaug Magnus (1490-1550) wrote about wolverine like this: "Löydettyään ahtaan paikan puiden välissä se puristautuu siihen, jolloin se pian rajusti tyhjenee. Näin hoikennuttuaan se palaa haaskalle ja täyttää taas vatsansa äärimmilleen, puristautuu jälleen samaan rakoon kuin aikaisemmin, palaa uudelleen haaskalle ja niin edelleen, kunnes tämä on kokonaan syöty." In english: When wolverine finds a tight place between trees, it squeezes itself between those trees and "empties itself" fiercely. After slim again like that it goes back to carcass and eats so, that belly is as full as possible, then squeezes again between trees and goes back to carcass to eat and again and again until carcass is fully eaten. "ahmannahkaturkkiin pukeutuva voi syödä miten paljon hyvänsä. Mutta sitä, joka nukkuu ahmannahkavällyjen alla, vaivaa hirvittävä nälkä." In english: person who wears wolverine fur can eat as much as he/she wants. But if someone sleeps under wolverine fur blanket, he/she is distressed all the time by horrible hunger" So wolverine reputation has long history :) These descriptions are in this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Description_of_the_Northern_Peoples And this is author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaus_Magnus This is newspaper article I just read and where I found those quotes: https://www.lapinkansa.fi/lappi/ahmalla-on-ianikuinen-maine-pedoista-pahimpana-mutta-miksi-suomi-maksaa-sen-tappamista-poroista-paljon-kalliimmin-kuin-norja-tai-ruotsi-joissa-ahmoja-on-enemman-15958652/
This is a "must see". Finnish link, so text is not possible to understand for most once again, but watch that video clip, where lone wolf attacks that wolverine, "wow" :
You need to scroll down article until that video is there. It is a loop, starting point is when wolverine rises to hind legs when it notices that wolf at last moment (approached under the wind, so that wolverine could´t smell it). That is quite something to see that attack by that wolf!!! https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2016/11/22/petojen-valtakunta
Some very nice photos of wolverines, that one were high on tree is quite impressive and others... well beautiful animal:
http://www.suurpedot.fi/petola/galleria/ahma/ahmojen-elamaa.html
In this link a short video where wolverine is eating head of moose carcass. In a way fun to watch how it rolls there while trying to get a good bite :)
https://www.kaleva.fi/uutiset/kotimaa/lukijan-riistakameravideo-nayttaa-kuinka-ahma-askaroi-hirvenpaan-kimpussa/814187/
In this video wolverine tries to rip small carcass of wild mink attached to the tree. It gives up quickly, probably the smell made it do that. Minks have glands excreting extremely bad smell and it is there also when dead. Skin of mink is also very tough and difficult to rip.
https://www.kaleva.fi/videot/ahma-lahikuvassa/9696/
This is a Finnish link again, but I put it here because of that first photo which is there when opening link. It shows size of paws nicely.
https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2006/05/24/ahma-aarimmaisen-uhanalainen-elain?_escaped_fragment_=&qt-tabs_under_article=1
Two wolverines fighting, this is rare and good video, they are rolling there so fast :) Little devils
From Sweden March 2008.Difficult to say if car was disturbing them and stopped fighting because of that or had they just enough otherwise.
This is also in lynx thread, but because rare footage, where wolverine and lynx are fighting, I put it here too to be found later for people interested about wolverines. Lynx makes wolverine flee, fight is from 0:50 to 1:00 when wolverine gives up. From Norway 2018.
Alec Baldwin-paparazzi interaction. Sorry, wolverine with persistent fox, wolverine obviously isn´t happy... not something to be seen too often recorded. Quite interesting part can be seen first 4.35-4.39 and then 5.00-5.15 on same place. Northern Norway, April 2015.
One case from 2010 and Canada where wolverine either was too slow to flee or it picked up a fight with puma, which was in serious mood.
Quote: "Just heard news from the wolverine folk up in British Columbia that Eowyn, the wolverine we captured and collared this winter in the Methow Valley, WA, was found dead up in Canada. Her remains were found buried next to a Doug fir along with some deer remains. The skull was found with deer bones, and the collar was located nearby. Cougar scat was also around and the buried remains also suggest cougar, so the theory is that Eowyn was found on a deer kill and then killed and eaten by a cougar (who may or may not have originally killed the deer). It’s always sort of sad to hear about the demise of a being that you have touched, and the counterpoint is always that this is good and interesting data. So it is a mixture of feelings. We do know that she was a young wolverine, so I am sure this sort of mortality is not unusual." Source: https://danielharrington.wordpress.com/2010/05/14/eowyn-the-wolverine/#comments This is wolverine Eowyn February 2010.  *This image is copyright of its original author Skull founded from kill site.  *This image is copyright of its original author
From the book Fighters, author Lassi Rautiainen:
"When Wolverines encounter Wolves I was sitting with my Swedish friend Henrik Ekman in the hide at Viiksimo in the summer of 2006. The area was already well-known to me. As far back as 1982 I had been involved in bear photography, a passion that had continued throughout the 1990s. But it was not bears that I was excited about as we sat there patiently waiting for something to happen: some members of the Kivikiekki wolf pack had occasionally paid a visit to this ‘restaurant’ of ours at Viiksimo, some 30 kilometers north of their regular haunts. As we watched, a wolverine we named Aurora borealis (Northern lights) discovered our carrion. Its breast was a tapestry of yellow torches that appeared to dance about as it moved, just like the flickering lights. The obviously hungry wolverine began to tear pieces off a carcass, even to the point of delving right into the depths of the fare, while forgetting to monitor its environment. Normally a wolverine will become immediately aware of the arrival of a bear or wolf and will discretely flee. Behind the feeding wolverine a pale young wolf now emerged. Its curiosity aroused, the animal began to walk towards the wolverine. I nudged my companion so that he could record on video an encounter between the two which might come as a shock to the feasting wolverine. I urged him to zoom in on the action for I reckoned that recording the encounter on a single frame with a still camera would not be terribly exciting. In a motion picture, on the other hand, it would be far easier for viewers to appreciate the coming confrontation. It was obvious to me that we were about to witness an incredibly rare natural event as it unfolded. Never before had I seen a wolf and a wolverine within a few meters of each other. When the wolf had advanced to within less than ten metres of the wolverine, the latter became aware of its presence. Aurora borealis seemed to burst into flames, before abruptly attacking the wolf. Totally unprepared, the young wolf took to its heels in fear. My friend actually recorded just a short shot in video but on the other hand my still pictures were once again blurred and amateurish due to the gloomy conditions. Great was our surprise when Aurora borealis and not the wolf returned to the table! Head held high, the wolverine seemed to communicate with the two of us, saying “How about that, then, chaps!” A couple of years later I had a different kind of experience while at my usual post in Kivikiekki. A solitary wolverine was feeding at carrion in the middle of a mire. I concluded that neither wolves nor bears were in the vicinity since the wolverine had stepped boldly out into the open. But I was wrong. A long way away three wolves were sniffing at the wind. They had detected the wolverine’s presence. Running for its life Then a dramatic chase as breathtaking as in any world cup match ensued. The wolves soon figured out that a wolverine on an open mire is defenceless and eagerly took off after it. Having only short legs, the wolverine decided to place an obstacle or two on the course. Water spurted into the air as the animal sped towards a small, dry ‘island’ of trees in the middle of the bog. For a moment I felt I was witnessing an incredible drama: the wolverine would surely lose the game and the wolves would tear it to pieces. When it seemed that the poor animal stood no chance of escape, the wolverine gained the ‘island’, where it shot up an old pine tree like a rocket, sending down a flurry of loose bark. Unable to climb after it, the disappointed wolves milled round the base of the tree. Panting from the chase, the pursuers stayed there a short time, before realizing the futility of hanging around. It was indeed a long time before the wolverine risked descending to the ground, to slip into the forest. Surrounded by trees, wolverines can easily outwit marauding wolves. They can climb up out of reach, if necessary. Rocks and scree are their favorite sanctuaries, as they are able to hide away deep down under boulders. Wolves are unable to squeeze into tight crannies. In such situations wolverine families are safely out of danger. I was convinced that particular wolverine had learned the lesson that open terrain is bad for the health. Other wolverines have since underscored that fact. Before the wolves appeared we had photographed wolverines from all our hides, irrespective of the environment. In contrast, in recent years we have observed wolverines in the forest and only very rarely in open, potentially hazardous country. The wolverine also has a predator’s keen sense of smell, helping it avoid conflict. It has learned the wolves’ schedule and avoids being out and about at the same time. Compared to the wolf, the wolverine is a pretty useless hunter. Following wolves about in the forest may thus be advantageous to it. When wolves kill a moose there is always some offal left. Wolves do not stay next to a kill all the time. This enables a wolverine or bear to purloin some of the food." That text is from pages 120-124. I put here caption and photo from page 125. Photo isn´t nice to look at. Book is available for free as online version here: https://www.articmedia.fi/ "In late April some Italian visitors showed me a ghoulish photo of a scalped wolverine. I immediately set off to study the traces of a conflict: two wolves had surprised a wolverine in the forest. The encounter had taken place 2-3 days previously, so the prints were no longer clear. Over the summer the right eye, which had been dislodged sideways, moved back into its normal position and the scalp grew back to cover the entire skull. Miraculously, this hero was still alive several months later."
In a way tragicomic incident from Finland. A wolverine came to yard of a farm in Finland and killed a cat. 62 years old woman, Mirja Kuosmanen, woke up when she heard scream of the cat and looked from balcony outside and saw and recognized, that there was a wolverine on yard. Mirja went out and took a shoe with her and slapped the wolverine with that shoe on backside. Wolverine got scared and ran away, but help came too late for that cat. Hopefully that wolverine learned a lesson and stay away from that farm in future. Women who defend their cats are fierce and fearless
 https://www.is.fi/kotimaa/art-2000006256855.html 
Bringing Back the Wolverine
Paying for an Endangered Predator Leads to Population Recovery (2015) Persson et al., Conservation Letters 8(5)  *This image is copyright of its original author The Swedish government changed tactics at the end of the 20th century, giving incentives to farmers when there were successful wolverine reproductions in their area (Image Credit: Wikipedia Commons)The Crux Humans have a long history of driving dangerous predators out of their backyard. Wolves and wolverines have been driven out of different parts of Europe at different points in history at the behest of farmers looking to protect their livelihood, and the Tasmanian Tiger was driven to extinction for the same reason. But with the realisation that these predators bring enormous ecosystem benefits, governments have been searching for ways to bring about co-existence between predators and locals. This study looks at a scheme introduced by a Swedish government in 1996, where reindeer herders had previously been compensated for any wolverine related losses. The new scheme introduced compensation for successful wolverine reproductions in the area. Persson et al. decided to have a look at how it fared. How it Works The data used documented wolverine populations between 1996 and 2011 in an area in Northern Sweden close to the Norwegian border, where reindeer is the wolverine’s main prey, and illegal hunting their biggest danger. The data examines both the rates of reproduction and illegal killing before and after the introduction of the new scheme in 1996. Importantly, there was also a distinction made between male and female wolverine populations, in order to measure whether the population was worse affected by illegal hunting of the females than the males. Quote:Did You Know: Trophic CascadesWhat They Found Out The results on illegal hunting in Sweden conflicted with data from other surveys on wolverine, as it suggested that males were around twice as likely to be killed as females. Yet reports from North America and Norway showed no significant difference between males and females, a discrepancy we’ll touch on later. The number of registered reproductions doubled after the introduction of the new scheme, and five years after the scheme was implemented the population growth rate increased. This is especially impressive considering the proximity of the Norwegian border means that some members of the population are killed in Norway.  *This image is copyright of its original author Whilst there are conservation measures in Sweden, the wolverine is actively hunted just across the border, in Norway (Image Credit: NTNU Faculty of Natural Sciences)Problems? That discrepancy between other studies is the big one, really. Wolverine population growth rates are very sensitive to increased killings of females, so if this study is incorrect, and the chance of illegal killing of males and females is the same, then the population growth rate may not be positive since 1996. However the statistical analysis was as conclusive as you can get for such a study, so instead of questioning these results, I think a more optimistic approach would be a study comparing the difference in risk of mortality from hunting in areas where hunting is illegal and legal. So What? This is a fantastic sign for conservation of the wolverine. The implications are obvious – if you give farmers a tangible incentive to care about the local population, growth rates rise. However I can’t pretend this is a universal solution. Wolverines are a special case, as they’re by large a solitary predator. The reintroduction of wolves pose different problems, as their predatory behaviour can sometimes see them pick off entire herds. However there are also positives to this situation. In this area, we have a carnivore whose diet is almost entirely livestock. There are many parts of the world where wolverines and other predators do not depend solely on one source of food, and programs like this may be even more effective in those regions. And the core message remains, that if you bring farmers and other affected citizens into the fold and make the benefits of conservation more direct, conservation always faces less resistance. |
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