Wolverines

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DogNewbie
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Wolverines

Post by DogNewbie » Thu Oct 18, 2012 8:52 am

Hey all,

I was up in Northern MN a couple weeks back and my buddy/roommate saw a wolverine run across the dirt road he was driving on. He said it much bigger than a fisher and had a bushy tail. Well last night we were watching tv and came across a nature show on wolverines. He said that was exactly what he saw. We also learned that wolverines have been pretty much pushed out of the lower 48, but have started to show up again in Cali and Michigan. Just wondering if any one else has seen wolverines in the lower 48 in recent years?

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Gertie
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Re: Wolverines

Post by Gertie » Fri Oct 19, 2012 3:12 pm

Lucky! I'd give my front teeth to see a wolverine. I don't think they've ever been completely "pushed out" of the lower 48 but rather, have been isolated into small populations in very remote places. The trail cams that researches have been putting out to study other critters have been responsible for the detection of the wolverine that was found on the Tahoe National Forest and a recent observation in NE Oregon, in both locations it had been suspected that wolverines had been absent for quite some time. Also, recently a collared wolverine from the NW corner of Wyoming made it's way clear to CO. They're being considered for listing under ESA so I think a lot more research and monitoring is being done and with that comes more interest so we'll probably be seeing more of them in nature shows and articles in outdoor type magazines, etc. I don't know too much about what's going on in Minn. and Mich. but my understanding is that there have always been a few around, albeit not very many. Anyway, that was a great sighting by your friend. I've been keeping my eye open for one for years and haven't been so fortunate (yet!).
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DonF
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Re: Wolverines

Post by DonF » Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:07 pm

About 20 yrs ago we saw a gold one across the road from out place. Didn't know what it was so called fish and game and they told us there were some around here and that that was a golden.
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Ms. Cage
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Re: Wolverines

Post by Ms. Cage » Fri Oct 19, 2012 5:04 pm

I've heard of several sighted in the past few years. One by a good friend of my husbands about 5 yrs. ago

fishvik
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Re: Wolverines

Post by fishvik » Mon Oct 22, 2012 7:24 am

Wolverines can still be found in the N. Rockies region of the west.(MT, ID, WY and possibly UT and CO).

I saw one back when I was in college on the NF of the Clearwater River in Idaho back in the mid 1970's and came across tracks up stream of the earlier spot while I was working for the USFS in the late 1980's.

One of the local fish bios for IDF&G who is also a trapper, caught one just northwest of Idaho Falls in the Menan Buttes area in the last five years. The strange thing about this was it was not a forested habitat but sagebrush steppe. It was radio collared and released in the Lost River Range in central Idaho and stayed in that area.

When I was at college at U of I one of the grad students working on wolverines near Flathead Lake in MT brought one back for some testing. It literally ate it's way out of the Vet. Science building on campus.

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dreamerofdreams
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Re: Wolverines

Post by dreamerofdreams » Fri Oct 26, 2012 5:51 pm

Saw a wild one only once, but that was in AK. Of course, it was also in the middle of the city... I was driving and by the time I'd pulled around to snap a picture it was gone into the park. Don't really want to see one closer, they kinda creep me out. Vicious little things!

fishvik
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Re: Wolverines

Post by fishvik » Thu Nov 01, 2012 6:56 am

It is interesting this thread came up at this time. Earlier this week on of the researchers working on wolverine populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem gave an update to a bunch of federal and state biologists and land managers on wolverine populations in the area surrounding Yellowstone NP. I seems there is a fairly healthy population but there is a fear that climate change predictions may lead to a federal listing due to increase snow level altitudes and decline in snow pack duration impacting the life history of the critters.

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DogNewbie
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Re: Wolverines

Post by DogNewbie » Thu Nov 01, 2012 9:01 am

fishvik wrote:It is interesting this thread came up at this time. Earlier this week on of the researchers working on wolverine populations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem gave an update to a bunch of federal and state biologists and land managers on wolverine populations in the area surrounding Yellowstone NP. I seems there is a fairly healthy population but there is a fear that climate change predictions may lead to a federal listing due to increase snow level altitudes and decline in snow pack duration impacting the life history of the critters.
Yeah, from what I understand, the wolverines relationship with snow/ice/glaciers is almost as vital as a fish's relationship to the water....ok, maybe not a great comparison, but it seems like it's extremely important to their survival. It's great to hear they are doing well in Yellowstone. They really are a cool animal.

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