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Post by Revenge on Apr 14, 2009 14:52:49 GMT -5
Wolverines
Member of the Mustelid: Wolverines belong to one of the largest carnivore families — the mustelid. This group includes skunks, otters, minks, polecats, badgers and, of course, wolverines. The wolverine is the second largest mustelid after the giant otter, and can be found in Canada, the northwestern United States and East Asia. Their fur is generally blackish with pale bands along the sides and rump.
Bone-Crusher: The wolverine is a powerful animal with very strong jaws. A special upper molar turned 90 degrees inward helps it crunch through frozen meat and bone. In its search for food, the wolverine can cover over 30 miles a day and has no trouble running down its victims even on soft snow.
DID YOU KNOW?
Small But Scrappy: About as big as a medium-sized dog, the wolverine is capable of animals much larger than itself, like moose or deer.
Long Distance Traveler: In its search for food, wolverines will travel up to 40 miles a day.
An Awful Odor: When threatened, it will give off a very strong and unpleasant odor. The smell has earned it the nicknames "skunk bear" and "nasty cat." |
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Post by Revenge on Apr 14, 2009 14:59:57 GMT -5
The Wolverine
Wolverine Profile
The wolverine is a powerful animal that resembles a small bear but is actually the largest member of the weasel family.
These tough animals are solitary, and they need a lot of room to roam. Individual wolverines may travel 15 miles (24 kilometers) in a day in search of food. Because of these habitat requirements, wolverines frequent remote boreal forests, taiga, and tundra in the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and North America.
Wolverines eat a bit of vegetarian fare, like plants and berries, in the summer season, but this does not make up a major part of their diet—they are tenacious predators with a taste for meat. Wolverines easily dispatch smaller prey, such as rabbits and rodents, but may even attack animals many times their size, such as caribou, if the prey appears to be weak or injured. These opportunistic eaters also feed on carrion—the corpses of larger mammals, such as elk, deer, and caribou. Such finds sustain them in winter when other prey may be thinner on the ground, though they have also been known to dig into burrows and eat hibernating mammals.
Males scent-mark their territories, but they share them with several females and are believed to be polygamous. Females den in the snow or under similar cover to give birth to two or three young each late winter or early spring. Kits sometimes live with their mother until they reach their own reproductive age—about two years old.
Wolverines sport heavy, attractive fur that once made them a prime trapper's target in North America. Their fur was used to line parkas, though this practice is far less common today and the animals are protected in many areas.
Wolverine Range (In the yellow)
Fast Facts
Type: Mammal
Diet: Omnivore
Average lifespan in the wild: 7 to 12 years
Size: Head and body, 26 to 34 in (66 to 86 cm); Tail, 7 to 10 in (18 to 25 cm)
Weight: 24 to 40 lbs (11 to 18 kg)
Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man
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Post by Revenge on Apr 14, 2009 15:00:40 GMT -5
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