Wolverine

Males can reach up to three feet in length (not including the tail) and weigh around forty pounds. Females are generally smaller.

According to the 1901 text, THE GREAT AND SMALL GAME OF EUROPE WESTERN & NORTHERN ASIA AND AMERICA:

"The wolverine is one of the few animals that Linnasus described twice over, first as Mustela gulo, and secondly as Ursus luscus; the former title applying to the Scandinavian form of the animal.

When these two were found to be identical, and it was also manifest that the creature belonged neither to the genus Mustela (marten) nor to Ursus (bear), it was made the type of a new genus under the title Gulo luscus - a name which has been very generally adopted ever since.

Since, however, the typical Scandinavian form is the one to which the specific title gulo was originally applied, purists in nomenclature would probably prefer to call the animal Gulo gulo."

Without the tail, the wolverine does slightly resembles the bear. Additionally, like the bear, the wolverine has a large home range, with the range for males extending a couple hundred miles.

Their extended home range allows them the latitude to hunt live prey as well as scavenge the remains of prey from larger predators such as wolves, cougars and bears.

Interestingly enough, Michigan, often called the Wolverine State, has never been known to be a wolverine haven. The largest population of wolverines live in the wide open spaces of Northwestern North America from Alaska to British Columbia. A small and stable population is present in Montana.

© 2010. Patricia A. Michaels