Rare Wolverine Plays To Remote Wyoming Camera [VIDEO]
Wolverines are elusive creatures, and catching one on video is no small task. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently managed to do just that, though, and what they saw led them to describe the animal as "cheeky".
The entire adventure is outlined in the blog, "A Wolverine's 15 Minutes Of Fame" by Jennifer Strickland, as they sought to study snow-dwelling species on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation.
"When studying wolverines, the first and perhaps most difficult step is to find one of the elusive creatures. So the biologists devised a plan:
1. Find a cold, isolated spot high in the mountains that is suitable for wolverines but not other species, like scavenging birds.
2. Hang a deer carcass in a tree, and hang it high enough that it won’t get buried in snow.
3. Set up a trail camera nearby.
4. Wait for wolverines.
'The camera site was located at an altitude of 11,000 feet, near the convergence of the Absaroka and Owl Creek Mountains and in the heart of big horn sheep, moose and elk wintering range,” recalls Mike Mazur, one of the biologists working on the project. “It’s a great place for hungry scavengers.'"
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Officials say the videos, which were actually captured last year, represent the first time a wolverine was caught on camera on the Wind River Reservation. They are planning to establish three new wolverine camera locations in 2018.
These videos are courtesy of USFWS and the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho nations.