Among the inhabitants of the north, it is difficult to find an animal more hardy, ferocious, unpretentious and rare than the wolverine. She leads a solitary lifestyle and does not hesitate to take away other people’s prey. Lynxes and bears sometimes give way to the wolverine, and experienced hunters say they haven’t been able to see it for years. This animal lives even in the Arctic.
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The little “bear”
These inhabitants of the taiga wilds and forest tundra are found in northern Eurasia and North America. Outwardly, they resemble small bears — they are club-footed, well-built, with coarse, dark brown fur. The wolverines move clumsily, even leaving an almost bearish trail. More than once, inexperienced hunters, following the trail of a wolverine, thought they were looking for a bear cub.
Scientists previously did not consider the wolverine to be related to bears, but they wanted to recognize it as a dog relative, but as a result they attributed it to the family of martens. The wide paws of this beast, armed with sharp curved claws, are an amazing device. On them, the wolverine skis through deep snow and swamps, and uses his claws to climb trees and rocks well, holding his prey.
Powerful jaws allow the beast to tear apart even frozen flesh, gnaw through the strongest bones. Therefore, few people risk attacking him. The largest wolverines reach almost a meter in length and weigh about 30 kilograms. However, not in size, but in disposition, the wolverine resembles a bear. She prefers to live alone and is extremely rare with her relatives, mainly for the sake of procreation.
The wolverine race runs from April to August. At the end of winter, 2-3 cubs appear in a den built among rocks and windfall. Kids learn quickly and become as moody wanderers as their parents. Still, Wolverines sometimes tolerate each other. There is information that they occasionally cooperate for hunting.
The Forest Pirate
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Unlike martens, ermines, sables and other relatives, the wolverine does not shine with grace, agility, flexibility and speed. But nature has endowed her with phenomenal endurance, perseverance, ferocity, strength and the ability to digest carrion. That’s why she often roams the taiga after faster predators.
For example, a wolverine can almost follow in the footsteps of a lynx, waiting for a nimble cat to catch prey. As soon as the lynx starts eating, the wolverine immediately appears next to it. She comes out of the forest thicket like a ghost, waddles towards the lynx, which, of course, does not want to yield to the brazen robber, hisses, purrs threateningly, and exposes knife-sharp fangs.
But Wolverine is not intimidated by such a demonstration. In the event of a fight, she is ready to use powerful claws and teeth, as well as use chemical weapons — to release a stream of unpleasant-smelling secretions into the enemy. Even bears and wolves cannot withstand such an attack. Moreover, the lynx, being clean, is sometimes forced to leave the battlefield, leaving the shaggy brown pirate with a hard-caught game.
Similarly, mature wolverines take food away from foxes, single wolves, and occasionally they can argue with a bear. It happens that the wolverine feeds at the expense of its main enemy, man. In search of food, she sneaks into hunting huts, warehouses, “checks” traps and traps. No wonder hunters don’t like her. However, they rarely manage to get even with her.
The glutton and the hunter
Despite his reputation as a forest robber who enjoys the work of others, Wolverine is not averse to hunting herself. Usually its prey are grouse, grouse, grouse, hares and pipits. The wolverine can also attack small musk deer or roe deer, ambushing them among rocks or in the branches of trees. After waiting for the right moment, the huntress suddenly jumps down on the victim and tries to bite her throat.
In winter, through deep snow, the wolverine pursues its prey for a long time and stubbornly until it runs out of strength. This method is especially effective when hunting deer. Occasionally, the wolverine even attacks moose, usually sick or injured animals, because even a bear can’t cope with a healthy moose. But the very fact of a wolverine hunting, which is comparable in size to a dog, for animals many times its size and strength, is respected.
The huntress makes almost no supplies: after killing the prey, the wolverine tries to eat as much as possible and go to rest. This feature is reflected in the Latin name of the species (Gulo gulo), which can be translated as “glutton”. Our knowledge of wolverine is not rich, but it is gradually increasing, but we cannot say that we know everything about it.
By Alexey Myasnikov
