Wolverine Sighted Near Portland

[David G]

There have been hints from biologists that they were making a comeback up in the Cascade Mountains, but this is the first sighting in the Willamette Valley.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/elusive-c...161839923.html

[bluedog225]

Nice. Glad they are not bigger.

365C7970-6711-40E8-9E03-8B37DE118026.jpg

[David G]

Big teeth. Strong as heck. Bad attitudes. What's not to like? <G>

[CWSmith]

My understanding is that they are not particularly aggressive, not like a grizzly, and won't hunt you down, but you don't want to mess with one.

[David G]

My understanding is that they are not particularly aggressive, not like a grizzly, and won't hunt you down, but you don't want to mess with one.

You could be right. I don't know much about them, and have had no interactions. I do remember my grandpa telling the story of a German-immigrant relative who moved to Wisconsin and had his cabin broken into twice by woverines. Busted down a stout door, ate everything in sight, tore things up, and left a distinctive pungent skunky scent. Oh, and apparently followed the fellows trapline, eating every caught thing along the way.

[Hugh MacD]

Cool! I think they're more scavenger than predator, but we need them here! The coast range is overrun with der and elk. I don't think a wolverine will attack an adult, but they might go for a fawn or calf, thus keeping the herds moving.

[CWSmith]

You could be right. I don't know much about them, and have had no interactions. I do remember my grandpa telling the story of a German-immigrant relative who moved to Wisconsin and had his cabin broken into twice by woverines. Busted down a stout door, ate everything in sight, tore things up, and left a distinctive pungent skunky scent. Oh, and apparently followed the fellows trapline, eating every caught thing along the way.

That sounds about right. I don't know how they could best down a stout door (I can't quite picture the mechanics of it), but they are powerful.

[Mrleft88]

The larger cousin of the Fisher (cat). Fisher's take on coyotes, wolves, and pretty much anything else that crosses their path (House cats and small dogs seem to be their favorite meal).
I've never seen a Wolverine, but I've seen a trapper's cabin that was either ransacked by meth heads with stink bombs, or a Wolverine. Not pretty.

[David G]

Audubon Society biologist says it was probably traveling from one snowy locale to another... maybe looking for a mate. They can do 30 miles per day, she says. And there was another 'possible' sighting up in the Cascades foothills... about the right distance away. But apparently, they need snow to over-winter. They stash food in snowy 'freezers' to feed the babies until the thaw.

[Dave Gray]

I recall one was seen on the Washington Long Beach peninsula in 2020

https://www.chinookobserver.com/news...95e68199c.html

Pretty cool. I would like to see one in the wild

[David G]

I recall one was seen on the Washington Long Beach peninsula in 2020

https://www.chinookobserver.com/news...95e68199c.html

Pretty cool. I would like to see one in the wild

Interesting. Article is paywalled.

[Geftb]

Interesting. Article is paywalled.

I learned a cool paywall trick yesterday.
Click link,
as its uploading turn wifi off before paywall comes in.
Gotta get the timing right.
Read away.

[Dave Gray]

CNN article about the 2020 sighting. And here I a thought it was last year

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/28/us/wo...rnd/index.html

[sp_clark]

I do remember my grandpa telling the story of a German-immigrant relative who moved to Wisconsin and had his cabin broken into twice by woverines. Busted down a stout door, ate everything in sight, tore things up, and left a distinctive pungent skunky scent. Oh, and apparently followed the fellows trapline, eating every caught thing along the way.

Gulo means 'glutton' after all! Their appetites conflict with those of humans who choose to share their habitat.

Been a few years since that happened I suspect. Word has it they've been made unwelcome in these parts in the interim:

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/...l_history.html

https://mnmammals.d.umn.edu/wolverine

Now as for badgers, they're no fun to have around either from what locals tell me.

Few years back both my wife and myself spied what we though might be a fisher across the street, moving through the shrubbery around a neighbor's house. Didn't have time to put a long lens on my Canon or I might have been able to make a positive ID out of my sighting.

[Landrith]

I think several rare predators made gains in territory during the lock downs. In North East Kansas, my adult son took a picture of a bigger cat print the size of his hand. In an area where we haven't previously seen bob cats and recent claims of mountain lion sightings within 20 miles.

[David G]

I think several rare predators made gains in territory during the lock downs. In North East Kansas, my adult son took a picture of a bigger cat print the size of his hand. In an area where we haven't previously seen bob cats and recent claims of mountain lion sightings within 20 miles.

I think that's true, some are. Fisher's have been reintroduced here, and looks like they might make a comeback. I remember someone from the local nursery getting excited that an endangered bumblebee was getting re-established. We only have a few spots where I've seen bighorn sheep, but apparently their numbers are also growing. I seem to remember that Gray Wolves are now off the 'endangered' list.