I took in a seminar on the weekend by a BC trapper on wolverine trapping. Carl (you know him Trapper Ron) traps in an area with a good population and harvests them consistently year after year. His beliefs are that snares and footholds have too big a failure rate and chances of loss. He also believes most wolverines have been smacked by a 120 marten set by the time they encounter their first wolverine set. He also believe the average set just kills the dumb or desperate wolverines. this has led to the legend of the uncatchable wolverine.

Carl advocates using a log set for all wolverines. Pretty sure we've all seen these. Cut top slab off 4-5' log section. cut out inside to fit 330 bodygrip and accomodate bait cavity. After trap is placed the top slab is nailed back in place. the trap is set at least 2 feet inside the entrance so that the wolverine has to crawl in and receives a good smack.

The trap was modified to have a foot pan and also a striker bar was welded to top jaw. Typically a whole beaver is placed in bait cavity a couple of feet past the trap. His trap cable is on swivels and secured tightly to the trunk.

Any thoughts on this set?

Sounds like a lot of work to catch a critter.

Would like to see some photos for discription. The big question for me would be problems with marten. Probably trap local marten first. Have others sets for them nearby. Can you set the pan trigger to not snap with a martens weight. I have decided it is best to find interception points that are void of marten.

Sounds like a timesaver on a registered line to have those sets where wolverine frequent year after year.
Just throw the bait in set and go just like trapping marten.
You need a big tree though.
I seen that set in the NAFA mag years ago-probably same guy.

I think many wolverines may have been smacked by a 120 if they are in an area where people are making sets on the ground. Small diameter pole sets discourage most wolverines from investigating marten sets too closely. I also think that the more different traplines a wolverine encounters, the better his chances for being educated. Most people are too lazy to approach it correctly, IMO.

I would disagree about snares and footholds having a high failure rate if a guy uses the proper hardware and thinks about what he's doing.

I can honestly say that the last wolverine I lost from a foothold was in 1993. It was from a #3 victor in a cat set. It was plenty of trap for a cat, but not gulo, and my mistake was not anticipating his arrival.

The last snared gulo I lost was about 1998. It was from one of my snare poles and he got his back feet on the ground and twisted until the cable broke. I should have realized the set was too low. Now I know.

I do agree with him that a myth has grown up around these animals. But it isn't because they are smart or cunning or magical. It's because we are lazy and don't think through all the possibilities.

Theres NOOOO way that could be you in that picture White17, they didn't have traps invented like that when you were that age!!!

Good reading, sure makes a low lander want to move up north!!!

That's me three years ago. I just look young due to clean living.

Its just comes with the proper tools and the proper knowledge of how to use them.

I use buckets, can leave out just like the log. I also like to throw in a few snares and foot holds here and there as well. I think most don't "know" what they are doing and hang a snare anywhere...or put a foothold and figure "that should work."

I'm sure there are some educated wolverine out there, but I think that their gut (staring at a chunk of beaver) will override their brain eventually.

The bears chew the crap out of our buckets if we leave them. The wolverines and the bears chew up our marten boxes too....

IMO the hollow log set is just a cubby the wolverine cannot tear apart to get the bait. Yes it works but is a lot of effort to construct. Better yet IMO is a 2-3 ft double end 330 conibear(culvert) cubby with the bait in the center. It's my experience that if the critter can see its way out the other end they seldom hesitate to enter the set. Yes it requires two traps but is worth it IMO to catch a $300+ value critter.

The old timers had the right idea. None of that new-fangled plastic stuff. Just a trap on a stick. Of course they probably didn't catch as much fur either

I've seen people use metal drums for a cubby as well as spiking logs together to build cubbies, I don't have trees with enough diameter to make a set like that mostly black spruce.......

I agree with W17 on the foothold & snare issue and Len brought up a good point about problems with marten. I know what thats like. I think the guy is right in that most wolverines are likely to have been smacked by 120s.....that why I prefer snares. I miss few and have only lost one. But there is no question the set would work, its just in my area at least marten would be a big problem.

I agree W17. One part of trapping that goes by/over most trappers is that when Gulo comes by your set everything has to play out just right. It is just as easy to over think the set as it is to be lazy in the details, both can lead to a refusal or a miss. But, their lust for wandering is a double edged sword. They are seasoned to sets, but are perpetually hungry.

For what I do a natural brushed in cubby with heavy rocks and logs funneling towards stepping sticks with a foothold is the way for me and my location. My footholds have a decent amount of pan tension and rarely do I catch marten in these sets. Baited buckets have not worked, yet. I have made catches in BG's in natural cubbies. When setting these I shape the trigger wires to minimize catching marten.

I do know a few trappers that use that set, Carl being one of them. Does not take a really big log if you use a 280. With the right cuts you can make this set with a 6 foot log in about 30 minutes or less and the set is there for a long time. The bottom cut can be made just like the top cut only you do not cut the slab off. The pan modification and the trap far into the set is an added touch for sure.

This can be made as a double ender also. Most of the wolverine taken in BC are in boxes with a 330 or 280. The trap needs to be secured in the box or cubby so the wolverine can not pull it out.

Wish I was in wolverine country again.

I thought Bushman was talking about you.....

White the set is identical except the trap is in deeper. Carl also uses only one scent for wolverine which is unique to those sets. Right now a Forsyth wolverine lure. The idea is the scent is different then all the other marten fisher set lures and acts as an attractant.

Well there is sure no doubt in my mind that they have amazing noses and excellent memories.

I have caught a few with missing toes. They probably lost them in BC or the Yukon to have made it here. I think their hunger is almost always their demise. I have yet to do the rodeo with a super smart one, so I am thankful for every dumb one I catch. They don't come easy and every one of them I bring home is truly special.

The most sucessful wolverine snare guy I'm friendly with, builds his snares with multiple swivels in them.

"I Know Heimo....!"

Pete

Dang White, thats some creative saw work on that log. You oughta be one of them chainsaw carvers. I like that set. Nice work. Can't trap wolverines here but I'm thinkin a cat might just fall for it. Gonna have to try it just to see if I can build one now. Could even modify it and put it to work as a little bear bait "barrel". hmmmmm got me thinkin. thanks for the pic

Full disclosure..........I didn't make the set in that picture. I grabbed it from someone many years ago.

White - any thoughts on best bait? I've discovered a trick while filming them.

Well my go-to is beaver but I have had good luck with really, really rotten meat scraps. Stuff so bad that I've almost resorted to smearing toothpaste on my upper lip while handling it.

I know they will investigate every beaver house in the area and they seem to know where every porky den is. Each one that comes through will check out each porky hole in the country.

If I encounter one that is of the super wary variety, that is really hesitant to commit to working a set, a piece of beaver with patches of hide attached seems to make a difference.

I tried porky on the "canopener" when he was giving me fits years ago and it was a no go. Loved them for coyote bait in Montana.

You have our interest peaked Bushman.

Beaver tails. I nail them to trees as well as have full beaver carcass hanging and my cameras shows the wolverine always goes for the tail first. I figure the tails have to have the most fat in them and calories.

Actually that's the part that I use the most. Not just the tail but the rear 1/4 of the beaver with the tail attached. I also wonder if there is more scent on the tail due to proximity of the castor ??

Castor hmmm, I bet it does help pull them in.

Great picture. I can almost hear the gristle popping in that tail

Wow do I feel stupid. ;0) Interesting observation Bushman. Been a lot of tails never made it to a set on my watch. Just didn't look appetizing enough. ;0)

FT not just for wolverine if you think about it they are all fat so loaded with the calories critters need. I will chop a tail into 3rds for marten bait and they work just fine. When using full carcasses on bait piles the tail will often be eaten first if it isn't the part tied down

Stands to reason, roasted beaver tail is pretty good stuff!

They work well on marten and they are tough. The birds can work them and not do much damage. I have nailed them right to a tree trunk or leaning pole. Lasts a long time.

Same goes with the feet. They always went into the discard bag. I have skinned a number of them with the tail on but it is an old habit of cutting them off that is hard to break. Good reason to now. Proof is in the photo!!.

Pete - a buddy set a trail cam at a body grip. A wolverine got caught and even though death was quick its immediate reaction was to roll over and over until expiry. Makes a good case for swivels. I also think an elevated horizontal log snare set for wolverines works pretty good. The one where log is 8 feet high, two snares on each end of a ten foot log. A couple logs leaning on each end for gulo access. Beaver hanging down from middle of log, too high for access from ground. Snares are long enough that when wolverine jumps off log it's left hanging suspended where it can't get feet on ground or scramble back up on log. Someone posted a pic of a wolverine double at one of these sets a long while back.

Brian,

I agree that a combination of multiple swivels and a setup that keeps the animal with its feet off the ground is the best bet for a snare set.

That said, I have never spent much time trying to snare them when other more dependable methods were available. I only would go to snares when one had wised-up to other steel. Frankly I was always afraid that I would not get the loop right behind the ears and the beast would chew through the cable. In my experience, if that loop is just an inch further back, it puts it up onto those famous neck muscles and prolongs the process, giving the gulo a much better chance to prove he is tough!

Pete

A lot of trappers here lose lynx snares to wolverine More than one gulo is caught still wearing those light snares. I don't think there is much effort made to snare them here, a body grip is usually lethal and with no drama, not like that Yukon man style.

Come to think of it, I've never tried to beat one to death with a spruce pole either.....!

Pete

I have snared a lot of them.....some years as many as 7 or 8. The majority have been caught in snares on a horizontal pole. Never used swivels of any kind and Ive never lost one caught in that set. I have seen two caught right behind the head with a 330 that were still alive....I chased one for 2 miles........Set properly I feel snares are the only way to go......more than once I have caught 2 at the same set.

There are exceptions to every rule Yukon, your experiences are not typical of those reported to me by other wolverine trappers. You are a wolverine whisperer lol

I don't whisper to them, but I have had the same experience as Yukon254, other than the fact that I never catch two at the same set at the same time, since I use a single entrance cubby.
3/32nds snare, no swivel, and a horizontal ridge pole for the cubby. I don't recall ever losing one with that arrangement. They're always wound up tight against the pole with their front feet off the ground.

Sounds like getting their feet off the ground is key to preventing rolling and twisting. Regardless of Speks and Yukons success I still hear a lot of stories of wolverines twisting up and breaking snares so maybe some set details from you two could help out other trappers. How are you tying off your snares Spek that leads to front feet off of the ground, how does your horizontal ridge pole play into it? Thanks

Hopefully spek can put some kind of drawing on here. I have seen his set used before and it works. I have been going try some as I think they have some distinct advantages over the one I use.

My is simple......a horizontal pole about 4-feet off the ground with bait in the middle and a snare on each end. I always make them under big spruce so they are protected from the elements. The biggest thing is loop size......guys that are having wolverine bust out or really mess things up are not getting them caught right. They will twist a snare up like anything else but I have caught many right on the ground that you could have reused the snare. The following picture is an example. The snare was set specifically for wolverine as I had seen where he had been visiting the beaver house in the background. You can see the small dead sticks around him are undisturbed.......he died very quickly.

I too have only lost one wolverine in a snare. That would be the one I mentioned earlier where I had it set too low on the pole. But by the same token I have had many that have almost twisted completely through the 3/32 cable. But I have killed them deader than a wedge with little disturbance in 1/16" cable...once. It was a set for fox so it was just a fluke for sure.

I tie mine off as high as I can when setting on the ground. Their twisting habit shortens the cable and eventually lifts the front feet off the ground.

I agree with Dave that loop size is crucial. If they get a front leg through the loop it's not going to end well.

Power rams are always an option.

I've never had one where there was even a remote chance of resetting the snare, they're alway's kinked up and curly qued beyond belief. I can see where it could happen though, especially
where you get a perfect catch with a small diameter snare that has a better chance of cinching down good and tight and cutting the blood off to the brain very quickly. I don't have enough
confidence though in getting a perfect catch on their little bull dog neck to deliberately go with anything smaller than 3/32. At the same time, I don't feel comfortable setting anything bigger
than 3/32. They are for sure tough little animals, but I think they just lack the body weight to consistently pull down a 7/64ths or 1/8th inch cable tight enough for the snare to do it's job. An exception to this would be a set where they end up with all four feet off the ground, which is a set that I have never used.

On the cubby set I just cut a pole about 12 ft long and 4 or 5 inches at the base. Put the little end on the ground and prop the big end up about 3 foot off the ground, usually with just 2 short
poles tied together like a saw-buck. Leave about 3 foot of the ridge pole sticking out the front of the set. Cover the sides of the ridge pole with brush or branches. Hang a good sized bait
from the ridge pole about mid cubby and hang the snare in front. Maybe they are dumber here than they are in other places, but they will jump over the ridge pole in the same direction or
wrap around the saw-buck, until they are sucked up tight and then it's all over. Around here you can make these cubbies under a big tree to protect them from snow and use them year after year. We have a lot of eagles so having the bait hidden inside the cubby keeps them from eating it or getting caught.

Two of my brothers trap also and we have all used this snare set for over 50 years and it has worked well for us.

Yep, that is the set I have seen. The trapper that used it swore by it. This set is IMO likely a lot better than mine because my bait is right out in the open. Will make some this winter.

Awesome information gentlemen and thanks for sharing your tips, I appreciate it.

Yukon you mention the beaver house. I just had a big teleconference this morning about wolverines with some researchers. Guys , how important are beaver to wolverines in your areas? Very little research shows they are a primary food source for wolverines but I think they are in some areas. We're talking about doing isotope work on the hairs to determine their diet over the previous year. We can capture hair both through harvest and passively. I'd appreciate your feedback guys, you know a lot more than any researches I'm dealing with I'm thinking.

Well I can't say how many they take of course but they will always go out of their way to get one. I suspect it isn't all that easy. beaver are pretty dang quick on land and usually not far from the water's edge when logging. Unless they were ambushed I think a beaver would escape many times.

But to indicate the determination of wolverines and their passion for the meat, I'll tell this story.

One fall I was trapping beaver. Late freeze-up so some haul outs were still open. I caught a big beaver in a 330 at one of those spots. An otter found it and tore it to sheds. When I got there I salvaged what hide I could and staked the carcass in3 feet of water under the ice edge. Put the 330 completely under the ice thinking to catch the otter.

Next day that wolverine was dead as a stone in that 330 completely submerged under the ice.

Thats an interesting story Ken. Brian, hopefully you guys will be able to do some research. I think it would be interesting and beneficial.

I think it depends on the area. I dont think a beaver would be that hard for a wolverine to catch. Like most of us know in some areas beaver are the primary diet for wolves. I hunted the Beaver river last fall in southeast Yukon. This river was aptly named as the beaver population was incredible, it turned out the moose and wolf population was also very high. Probably the most moose I have seen since I hunted the Halfway river in the 80s. Anyway the banks of this river are high and choked with heavy willows. Just incredibly thick. The wolves were not even interested in moose they were hunting beaver. Every day we would find blood & hair in a run or on a sandbar. There is no doubt wolverine do the same thing in certain areas. They will dig out houses in the winter sometimes as well. Thats why a beaver house is such a good location for a set.

This was a small beaver house that a wolverine dug into a couple years ago. I spooked it out of the house and was following its tracks when I came upon this.

The beaver here have been hammered by bears and wolves. It's hard to find a live pond anymore. But over all, for this area, beaver has never been a primary food source for wolverine, however they are a supplemental food source. Wolverine are pretty adaptable, so what ever prey is the most abundant at a given time becomes their primary food source.

These college wonders that are out studying animals these days scare me. Most of them seem desperate to come up with a shocking new biological revelation, even if it means making something
up.

You fellows using climbing sets, figure all wolverines will climb?

I think most will.....

Well, do you see rejection? If I don't get snow and blow, I see tracks where a wolverine wouldn't work my ground cubbys.

I have seen that too but I have a theory that there are some areas where wolverine transit while en-route to another location. I think there are areas where they hunt actively and areas that they do not. I have a spot on my line where I regularly see wolverine tracks. In over 30 years at that location I have never had a wolverine show any interest in a set. But a half mile away I can catch those same wolverine in the same type of set.

I don't recall ever seeing a refusal to climb

no. if there are tracks at a set I have either caught the critter or missed it.

The rejections I have seen I pretty much attributed to poor bait. To old and dried up with no scent left. And I've never had one look twice at a whole frozen porcupine.

Ditto the porky

You have any pictures, I can kind of see it in my mind but a picture would clarify it for me.

One tiome I caught a wolverine in a wolf master power ram. I came into possesion of half a spoiled caribou. So I put it in a thick bush and made a trail through the deep snow and put wolf masters on either side. A big storm buried the the snare on the side facing the river and the wolverine walked over that one followed the trail fed on the caribou then followed the trail right out into the wolf mastrer which was not buried. He must have faught for a couple days because my boys picked it up and the snare broke as they lifted it. It oly had one fried strand of wire holding it when it died. Toataly destroyed my set place, chewed all the willows down in the area it could reach.
Caught 2 wolverine this year one in a leg hold set for lynx and one in a 330 in a plywood box. Do you think painting the box is better than leaving bare plywood. The wolverine past up a unpainted box and went to a box painted red and green (old x-mas sled). Could have been the bait though as that box had spoiled beluga whale muktuk for bait.

Up in arctic Canada fresh beaver meat freezes like rock does not have much smell after that. I usually have to mix other baits with it if I use beaver for bait. How about moose lower legs they don't seem to be very popular with the preditors either.

Hey Muskrat, put your location in your profile.

I don't think a wolverine would care at all about the color of the plywood. I'll bet that spoiled beluga was some ripe stuff !!

i tried but it did not work I will try again

Muskrat, are you using lure??? I use marten magic for wolverines and it works well. The reason I ask is that beaver will freeze solid here too.....I travel through one FN trappers line to get to mine......He has the best marten I have ever seen and uses beaver for bait, with no lure. I see marten tracks everywhere when traveling that section....even under his sets.....but he catches very very few.....has to be because they dont smell the frozen beaver.....

[img:left]http://s1315.photobucket.com/[/img]
This is a picture of a see through log trap that I made with two 280s in a log.
I only tried it for a week at the end of the season. I left it out there and will reset it this fall.
I put a bunch of different types of bait in it so the wolverine will have a choice.

We have very few marten as we are so close to the tree line. We only get them in pockets here and there. I only got 1 last year. I am going to expand my line next year to try and get into some marten. I never buy much lure I usually use beluga whale oil. Or I got some non toxic antifreeze and mixed it with beaver castor. Put it on a ball of caribou fur and both wolverine I caught played with it before getting caught. I may add some High Karate and whale oil to it to give it some kick.
I will remember to use lure when I set for marten.

I have research on what has proved in field trials to be the very best wolverine scent lures. I will tell you the top two lures, one will not surprise you but the other will blow you away. Any guesses?

Wolverines are part monkey. I have hours of footage of them climbing. They are very capable climbers and rely on it to escape wolves and bears

I guess skunk essence??????

I have heard they are fond of av gas.

Muskrat you need to make sure your photo url ( address for a photo ends in .jpg
That address similar to this. Notice the .jpg at the end.
http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/2951wolverine.jpg

When you click the sun on a new message and select the insert a photo just paste your photo address in it.
Your address will be between, with no spaces the script below.
[img] [/img]

Notice your script has a mistake in it. [img:left]

Beaver castor and Len you are close turpentine.

I have to ask; what inspired you to even try turpentine?

I think it was Audrey Magoun who several years ago said that she had found 80/87 to be particularly attractive to wolverine. I wonder if they react to same to 100LL or unleaded ?

Porcupine that feed on spruce bark taste like turpentine.

I assume this was posted seriously, but you always know a REAL trapper when they know what porcupine tastes like!

That right there is funny. I don't care who you are......!

I second that.

One time we were doing a clean-up of abandonned JetB drums in the Richardson Mountains. They were frozen into the ground and we hit one with an axe to free it up and made a little hole we duct taped a fuel pad to it and haulled it like that in an aluminum sled. Must have leaked a small trail all the way behind us. A pack of wolves followed the trail for 25 miles. The next day guys who went up to haul the last drums got 4 or 5 wolves on the trail back to the drums.

Gin tastes like pine needles which smells like turpentine.....
I am going to try castor mixed with turpentine and gin mixed with my Podunk trapping buddies. I do know that they investigate AV gas on the ground.

These are not my finding. A study tested a variety of sunstances on penned wolverines as well as field test in Montana and NWT.

Wolverine scat often has conifer needles in it. Turpentine contains many of the same chemical components as conifers and proved to be quite a draw fro wolverines. They did test gas as well and in some cases it worked almost as well. Mink musk was another scent that while not as good at pulling them in, held wolverine at the scent station for quite a while.

Interesting ! Hard to keep your lure from evaporating but it won't freeze

http://www.rmrs.nau.edu/wildlife/unitoverview/unitpdf/TE_Summer%20Detection%20Wolverine.pdf


Here's the complete study. There's a lot of info if you can tease it out.

Muskrat411- Where in NWT are you from. I'm just about to jump in my vehicle heading for Ft Providence today.

I have never seen even remote evidence of them snacking on spruce needles.

May be from eating the crop of spruce hens or stomachs of rabbits and porcupines.

You do know Mackenzie Days are cancelled right?
I'm from Aklavik in the the western edge of the Mackenzie Delta right near the Yukon border and 60 miles south of the Beufort Sea. a long way from Providence, my dad's people are from there though, he came down river cutting wood for steam boat, met my mother and stayed.

Scent is nice, but ravens can be heard from a long way.

Quite a bit of conifer has shown up in wolverine scat analysis Spek so it's happening. They also find the Ketones (?) in urine samples which are naturally occurring in conifers.

May be happening there BM, where you have a variety of conifers, but the only conifer we have here is spruce, and they don't deliberately eat them here. I'm sure they would ingest some while eating some prey, but there is no evidence that I have ever seen where they deliberately ate spruce needles as a part of their diet.

I've never seen that either. It would be interesting to see if it is seasonal.

Yeah, and what variety of tree. "Conifer" is a pretty broad term.

In Gwich'in medicine spruce gum is one of the primary substances used. Maybe wolverine get hurt a lot as they live a rough life and have found out that the gum helps to prevent infection so they eat some every now and then by instinct.

Well, I'm a believer. I'm gonna start making cubbys out of frozen beaver carcasses and put spruce bows inside for bait.

I am going to have a martini and drink about trapping gulo's.....

I am going to go buy some Turpentine!!

Muskrat I was introduced last year to using spruce gum for healing sores and burns etc. I was working in Fort Yukon with the Gwich'in. Worked well and I found it interesting how the next day under a band-aide it was no longer sticky. Worked well.

the lady who use to be our neighbor makes traditional medicine and she uses a lot of spruce gum and she also used porcupine fat. It works really good.

Balsam fir pitch is also a traditional medication for many ailments, cuts,and infections.

"Well, I'm a believer. I'm gonna start making cubbys out of frozen beaver carcasses and put spruce bows inside for bait."

I don't know how Dirt firgured it out but that is one of the deadliest sets known to Siberian wolverine trappers.


How do you guys know whether wolverines are ingesting conifer needles or not? I've been around them all my life and never had any reason to check their scat before but I'm going to look at bit closer now.

Another study:

a b s t r a c t
Urine deposition has been observed as an important scent-marking behaviour among
wolverines (Gulo gulo, Mustelinae, Mustelidae). Solid phase microextraction (SPME) of
headspace volatiles of the urine from free ranging wolverines were examined by gas
chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Urine samples were collected directly from
the bladder of live-trapped animals or from frozen samples deposited in snow. Nineteen
potential semiochemicals were identified in the headspace from 22 urine samples. The
composition of these volatile compounds varied by type and amount with each sample,
but a number of chemicals were regularly found in many samples. The most commonly
found constituents were the ketones; 2-heptanone, 4-heptanone and 4-nonanone; and the
terpenes: a-pinene, b-pinene, limonene, linalool and geraniol. Mammalian urinary
discharge of ingested a-pinene, b-pinene, limonene and other hydrocarbon terpenes is
unusual, as these compounds are usually oxidized before excretion. The source of the
hydrocarbon monoterpenes likely includes conifer needles, as they have been found in
wolverine scat.

I wonder if it's sort of like dogs eating grass? Not a dietary staple, for sure, and I don't think using a grass patch would increase the likelyhood of a canine catch. There's just too much of it, (it's everywhere).

AV - I'm thinking that the conifers act as a "boost" to the chemical message's the urine carry. Another factor is where the urine is deposited as there seems to be a difference between urine on organic material like wood and that on snow or ice. I don't know anything for sure but I like thinking about it. We'll never know what's totally going on.

I mentioned the pine / spruce trees I find Scratched up in the bush and asked if any of you guys have seen that behaviour? I found this information in some Scandinanvian research which seems to confirm this is part of a wolverines territory marking, and is common.

Behaviour: There were 83 observations of marking in the study. These observations were of markings by
urine, secretions from anal glands, scratching in trees, most frequent on pine and markings by
feces (fig.9).

There have been some observations of wolverines climbing up into trees and
urinating along the tree.

Marking during the project

Urine Secretion Scratching Feces

There were 25 observations of day-beds. Wolverines use day-beds in areas where they
spend a lot of time, like denning areas and areas where they have a lot of food, like
carcasses (see appendix). Other interesting observations during the project are bites
made by wolverines on little young plants of pine. This is probably a way of marking
(Persson & Östergren, 1996). Observations of wolverines “licking” and “gnawing” on
spruce and especially the resin of the spruce are found quite frequently during the
project.

I've been accused of being a s*** sifter more than once

I think you mean "disturber" W17


If wolverines use conifers to enhance their chemical messaging it once again shows how little we know about the natural world around us. Sometimes this research just reinforces what trapper's already know though. For example we already knew castor is a cross-species attractant and I always use dry, not green, stumps for scent.

The thing is I don't need to know everything about the natural world, unless that knowledge helps me catch stuff.

Lot's of different animals mark their presence in an area in varying ways. Black and brown bear chew on spruce trees,(at least they do in this area) and I don't doubt that they at times ingest some wood and bark, but it would be stretching reality to consider spruce as a part of their diet. IMO, the same could be said for wolverine.

Out of curiosity, I often cut the stomach open on animals I hunt or trap, including wolverine, and I have never found spruce in ones stomach. And, like White17, I often tear scat apart with a stick to see what can be learned from what is in it. Another thing I have done over the years is follow animals tracks, sometimes for long distances, to gather whatever information I could about them from studying their tracks. I'm sure a lot of other trappers do the same. Anyway, in the areas where the studies you mention were conducted, spruce trees may be a measurable part of a
wolverines diet, but I think it is safe to say that is not the case here.

I have to wonder though if the terpenes the researchers found in wolverine urine was not there as a result of eating porcupine meat, which I would think would be high in terpenes? Or did they even consider that possibility? IMO, any conclusions included in a scientific study with the words "likely" and "probably", raises a red flag.

I have long wondered why Alaska bears don't tear up young coniferous trees to eat the cambium layer (for you non-forester types, thats the thin layer of material between outer bark and the wood itself, through which the nutrients and water travel...) Down in the Pacific NW, black bears kill a lot of young trees that way. Its so bad that some of the timber companies pay hunters and hounds to kill or to run the bears out of their stands of young conifers.

Yet up north, I have never seen the kind of damage that they have down there.

I have seen on Kodiak where brown bears were skinning cottonwood roots with their teeth to get to the cambium layer, but never seen where they were feeding on standing young white or Sitka spruce.

Pete

Pete, I've never seen that here either (eating of the cambium layer). I'm not sure why they do it, but in late spring and early summer, black bear here kill a lot of young spruce, 8 to 10 inches in diameter at the base, by peeling all the bark off the base and exposed parts of the roots. All the bark will be laying there in strips, and no sign of any of it being eaten. It is of course hard to discern tracks around the base of the trees, but from what faint sign I have been able to detect it appears the damage is done mostly by yearling cubs, but can't say that for definite. It's pretty common to see in the woods here though.

Spek I hear you on us trappers gaining knowldge by observing nature in the actual bush, but that's what led me to looking at research. I can only learn so much on my own and I've learnt a lot off of you guys and researchers alike. None of the studies say likely or probably by the way.

I'm not suggesting wolverine are using conifers as a food source. What I'm saying is analysis has shown the presence of those chemicals in wolverine scat and urine. And turpentine was effective as a wolverine attractant. I'll be keeping my eyes open for any connection I can find.

Bears ripping up conifer bark is very common here and is done by both griz and black bears. If you look closely when the bark is freshly tore up you can see claw marks in the tree. They're not eating bark, they're licking the spring sap.

Dirt - Keep your head buried in the sand brother, you'll never get hurt that way. I'm still laughing about that new wolverine cubby you designed though. Do you skin the beavers before you make the cubby?

I suspect the needles found in scat are probably like by-catch. Spruce grouse crops, or just scavenging carrion off the forest floor. That's why I think it would be interesting to see if there's a difference from summer to winter. When there's snow on the ground I would expect a lower incidence of needles in scat although the spruce grouse is still a source.

They definitly are not finicky eaters for sure so I could see them picking up incidental needles in their diet. I'm thinking most of that scat was collected in winter. I smell a grant application here, or is that just wolverine musk?

Here's a picture of a wolverine entering one of Dirt's beaver carcass cubbies, on its way to a juicy mouthful of spruce boughs. Thanks for the picture Dirt now i see how it works.

Get out your magnifying glass I think I see needles

Is there turpentine in a beavers stomach from eating trees and then when the beaver is digested by the wolverine it shows up?

Looks like he ate a beaded mitt-are those seed beads?

The easy way is to dissolve the scat in water and strain it through a fine mesh. That leaves almost all the bits of bone, feathers, claws etc.

Boco - good eye.

It's an interesting idea as to whether the meat the wolverines are eating is causing the results. maybe we'll never know.

W17 - would a mesh tea ball work? I could use the wifes whenever she is in town.

And if I could get one of the links you posted to open for me now I would show you a "probably".