Rocky Mountain Wolverine Redux
Wolverines are one of the least studied animals in the U.S. Rocky Mountains. Their numbers, ranges and travels are little known. But lately wolverines have been showing up in some surprising places in the state of Idaho.
I previously reported on this blog on a wolverine photographed by a camera trap in the Boise National Forest.
Recently, the one pictured above was accidentally caught by a recreational trapper near Idaho Falls, a city of 50,000 people and considered well outside the range of the wolverine. The wolverine was checked out by a veterinarian and safely released in more suitable habitat. See more photos and the rest of the story here.
Seeing a wild wolverine in Idaho is still the longest of long shots. Probably the best bet to see one is in Finland, as reported in Jon Hall’s excellent trip reports. But if you’re on a wilderness trip in the Western United States, you never know–wolverines are out there.–Matt Miller
Photo courtesy Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
6 Comments
-
Jon Hall
Wow….
I remember asking the head of the American Society of Mammolgists a few years ago about the best places to look for Wolverines and Fishers and was told that they sometimes hung around ski resorts in winter because they would raid the garbage.
-
Ross
We were camping this week in the McClure Pass National Campground. In the late morning I was hiking down by the beaver ponds and I came across what I believed was a wolverine. I did not realize there were wolverines in the Rocky Mountains, but I am now sure of what I saw. I spooked him, first he stared me in the eyes, and jetted of quickly around the turn. I have never seen an animal like him. I described him to my wife in great detail, and upon further research I was sure of what I saw. Very cool.
-
-
Ross
The campground was the McClure National Park Campground, which I believe was on HWY 133, between the towns of Paonia and Marble in Colorado. We were the only campers in the campground at the time. It is a fairly primitive campground. Lots of animals, big and small. Great place to get back to nature. No water, but porta-pottys.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
bob
a year or two ago my dad and I were going up to Bogus Basin ski resort and as we were rounding one of the turns something caught my dads eye that he thaught was a carpet so he turned around and there it was a young tan wolverine standing there hissing as if telling us to get lost and we just stayed there staryng in total awe.