Wolverines are like little bears. They have the same large claws and sharp teeth, but are much smaller than bears, more like the size of an average dog. They prefer to live in snowy areas and can be found in North America and Northern Europe, as well as in the regions of Russia. Since wolverines live in the snow, do they just hibernate most of the time? Not at all, wolverines do not hibernate; they are active hunters all year round! Let’s take a look at 11 of the most incredible wolverine facts!
1. Wolverines can smell in snow 20 feet deep to find food.
If you were standing at the flagpole and looking straight up, that’s about 20 feet. Now imagine that a wolverine can find a dead caribou after an avalanche at the same distance, and then dig it up for dinner! The wolverine has an incredible sense of smell and hearing. Together they use their senses to locate prey. They can also detect hibernating animals through the snow and dig them out in search of food. Let’s talk about a rude awakening!
2. Avoid the refrigerator: Wolverines use snow as a freezer to keep large carcasses cold.
If the wolverine kills a large prey or finds it abandoned, it will receive a large meal. If there are leftovers, they will bury the carcass in the snow to save for later, thus preserving the meat, just as our food is frozen in the freezer.
3. Forget fast food, wolverines love frozen food.
The wolverine’s sharp teeth and powerful jaw crush frozen carcasses, bones and more! In winter and in regions where there is snow, wolverines feed on frozen carcasses of deer, reindeer and elk. They don’t just bite off the meat from the bones, they eat it all.
4. They have built-in snowshoes, their legs are twice as large.
Wolverine’s paws expand as they land on the ground, twice their size. When the wolverine runs in the snow, the paws serve as snowshoes, distributing their weight and preventing them from drowning in the snow. Wolverine’s paw print is about the size of a woman’s hand. This may not sound impressive, but compare that to the size of a medium-sized dog print, and by comparison, it is quite large!
5. Baby wolverines are born with white hair.
The wolverine gives birth to two to three cubs at a time, and the babies are born with white fur. Since they usually give birth in early spring and live in arctic regions, white fur can serve as a camouflage for snow. Baby wolverines grow rapidly, reaching adult size in less than a year and are ready to mate by the age of two.
6. Can a wolverine be trained as a search and rescue animal in the snow?
In Alaska, Mike Miller of the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center began work on a program to train wolverines to locate and excavate avalanche victims. This seems to work well as wolverines can find animals in snow 20 feet deep. He works with Steve Kroschel, who runs the Kroshel Wildlife Center and has been raising wolverine for many years. In a simulation test of an avalanche, one of his trained wolverines successfully found and dug up a human volunteer. The focus of the program will be on the use of wolverines to find victims, and then the use of mechanical means to dig up the victims. It sounds promising!
7. Superhero Marvel Wolverine look like real wolverines?
No set of wolverine facts is complete without superhero comparison Wolverine! And in fact, both have many characteristics in common. Wolverine and wolverines:
- Both are immune to most poisons such as snakes and scorpions.
- They both have an incredible sense of smell and can use it to be keen trackers.
- Both have long, hard, incredibly strong claws.
However, the superhero has some that are not represented by real wolverines. Although true wolverines are tough, they can be injured and killed, unlike Wolverine which has an irresistible healing power. If a real wolverine had been shot, it would have been killed too. Wolverine who will recover after a while. Judging by the reputation of the wolverine, it makes sense that a superhero could be fashioned out of him!
eight. Their fur coat is frost-resistant!
The wolverine’s coat is very dense and can also repel water. Wolverines in colder arctic regions benefit from this because their fur does not freeze and keeps it warm and dry. Thanks to these properties, people will hunt wolverines and use their fur to make parkas and coats. The hood of jackets is often lined with thick brown fur.
nine. The wolverine has a large home range, almost half that of Rhode Island!
Depending on which region they live in, wolverines can have a home range of up to 1500 km². Compare this to the size of Rhode Island, which is 3144 km². This is a large area to cover. Male wolverines have a much wider range than females and try to avoid other male wolverines whenever possible. The size of the assortment depends on the availability of resources as well as the season.
ten. Wolverines are called “skunk bear”.
They can secrete a smelly “stink bomb” from their anal glands. Skunks are known to spray water when threatened, but wolverines use their smelly odor to mark their territory. When they feel threatened, they are more likely to act aggressively, show their teeth and claws, and are not afraid to attack, even on larger wolves and bears!
eleven. “Honey, open the door! No wait? ”Wolverine was caught on video at the Ring in Utah.
There are two interesting points in this story. In July 2021, a male wolverine was captured by a Ring camera outside a house in Layton, Utah. First, wolverines are extremely rare in Utah, with only six confirmed cases since 1979. Secondly, it is also extremely rare for a wolverine to leave its forest habitat and wander into a densely populated area. Another wolverine was spotted near the site earlier in May, and biologists believe it is the same wolverine. They hope to catch him in order to tag him and study his habits.