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Re: Wolverines in the Sierra

Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 9:34 am
by ERIC
Researchers: Wolverine appears to be thriving in California

By MARTIN GRIFFITH
Published: January 10, 2015


RENO, Nev. (AP) - A wolverine appears to be thriving in the northern Sierra Nevada seven years after being confirmed as the first one in California since 1922, researchers said.

More than two dozen documented sightings of the solitary predator have occurred since it was first observed in March 2008 about 15 miles northwest of Truckee, said Chris Stermer, a biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The same wolverine is believed to have been last detected in November by a motion-sensing camera in the Tahoe National Forest near Fordyce Lake, which is only some 15 miles southwest of where it was originally seen.

The male appears healthy with dense fur and ample weight, Stermer said, and has staked out a 300-square-mile swath of the Sierra between Interstate 80 and Highway 49 as its territory.

"I think it's exciting," he said. "It gives us some hope of bringing back some apex predators like that. It would be exciting to have wolverines back in the Sierra."

Though its DNA has been linked to wolverines in Idaho's Sawtooth Range, biologists are still unsure whether it wandered down to California or was released into the Sierra by someone.

Positive identification of the wolverine spotted Nov. 3 near Fordyce Lake is pending genetic testing by the U.S. Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins, Colorado. Some of its fur was obtained for the test.

"Based on our history it's most likely going to be the same individual, but our hope is it's not," Stermer said. "Our hope is we have a pair here so they can mate ... We're hoping that one animal turns into a population."

The odds are good over time that some wolverines will venture south to California from Idaho and the Cascades, he added.

Once found throughout the Sierra and Rocky Mountains, wolverines were wiped out across most of the U.S. by the 1930s due to unregulated trapping and poisoning campaigns, said Bob Inman, a wolverine researcher with the Wildlife Conservation Society.

In the decades since, they largely have recovered in parts of the West, where 250 to 300 of the animals live, but not in other parts of their historical range. In the Lower 48, they live primarily in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington. Larger populations persist in Alaska and Canada.

California has the habitat to support higher wolverine numbers, Stermer said, and his agency has discussed the possibility of reintroducing them to the state.

"They avoid residential areas and livestock. There's not a lot of controversy with having wolverines around," he said. "How many pairs can the habitat support? That's the question."

The rarely seen members of the weasel family have a reputation for ferocity and strength out of proportion to their size. Adults are about as big as medium-size dogs.
Read more: http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268808/conten ... d=i8Dja49b" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: Wolverines in the Sierra

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 12:11 am
by Shawn
Some nice video in this recent news story:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyl ... story.html

Re: Wolverines in the Sierra

Posted: Fri May 15, 2020 2:01 am
by CarlRaillard
Cheetahwoka wrote: Mon Nov 19, 2012 12:12 am Mr. Durkee, on page one of this thread, you said you wrote something in 2008 I think, with a map, etc. but the links are dead. Are your reports available to read somewhere? Also, who do you think would be the most interested in my sighting? Graber? Maybe I should mention it to the Institute for Wildlife Studies in Arcata, too.
Hello.
I, too, would like to read that 2008 report. David Graber is the biologist who confirmed the Wolverine track at Colby Pass that I saw. It was a five-toed print in the snow, with deep nail-impressions. The animal was using its claws as crampons, to front-point its way up to the pass.
Anyway, combing through the internet over the years, I managed to download these two maps ... before I lost the relevant links! The first map is a low-rez jpg. of Yosemite wolverine sightings. The second is an equally crude jpg which shows SEKI park records of Gulo gulo. The little star at Colby Pass is my track. Interestingly, two years earlier and four years later additional sightings and/or tracks were recorded SE of Mount Ericsson. That's not far from Colby Pass. It could be the same animal.

Sincerely,
Carl Raillard

Re: Wolverines in the Sierra

Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 3:10 pm
by bobby49
Years ago I had been reading about wolverines, but of course I had never seen one. Then one summer I had decided to go to Yellowstone for wildlife photography. At the end of my long first day of driving, I stopped in a car campground northwest of Stanley Idaho. I put up a tent, and then I placed my line of jingle bell noisemakers all the way around the campsite, just in the event that any animal wandered close. In the middle of the night, the bells were ringing, so I jumped out of my tent with my camera in hand. I could not find my camera flash, so I just lit up my brightest headlamp. VOILA! One photo of a wolverine!

Re: Wolverines in the Sierra

Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 4:34 pm
by druid
bobby49 wrote: Mon May 18, 2020 3:10 pm Years ago I had been reading about wolverines, but of course I had never seen one. Then one summer I had decided to go to Yellowstone for wildlife photography. At the end of my long first day of driving, I stopped in a car campground northwest of Stanley Idaho. I put up a tent, and then I placed my line of jingle bell noisemakers all the way around the campsite, just in the event that any animal wandered close. In the middle of the night, the bells were ringing, so I jumped out of my tent with my camera in hand. I could not find my camera flash, so I just lit up my brightest headlamp. VOILA! One photo of a wolverine!
I'd love to see your picture, even if it's dark and blurry.

Re: Wolverines in the Sierra

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 12:17 pm
by MichaelRPetrick
Am fairly certain I saw one between Maxson Meadow and Portal Lake yesterday morning around 8700 feet.

At first I thought it was the biggest marmot I'd ever seen, then I realized it was far too long for it's height to be a marmot, and the coat was a rich nearly black brown that wasn't like any marmot I'd ever seen.

Anyone care to know where I can report this (admittedly somewhat shaky) observation?

Re: Wolverines in the Sierra

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 3:33 pm
by bobby49
If it is inside a national park, then you can report it to the contact person for the national park. If it is inside a national forest, then you can report it to the contact person for the national forest.

For example, I was deep inside Sequoia NP one time and photographed a specific bird and noted the GPS coordinates. When I got home and studied the image closely, I figured out that it was something more rare. So, I sent the JPEG image off to the head scientist for Sequoia. He replied immediately and wanted to know the GPS coordinates so that they could put another item on the target list for the next wildlife survey. They do not divulge the image or the location except to authorized searchers. They don't publicize it because they don't want a thousand tourists stomping their way to the spot.

As for wolverines, my experience is limited. I've only seen two now. There are some specific markings on the coat that are a dead giveaway. They are rather rare in California, and there is a confirmed sighting only once every five or ten years.

Re: Wolverines in the Sierra

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 4:06 pm
by SSSdave
Suspect some sightings are actually weasels, badgers, or pine martens. I did see an American badger about Tioga Meadows, and over decade a few pines marten, and many long-tailed weasels. As a landscape photographer, I often go places few or no others venture and from that am aware there are actually significant trail-less and route-less areas where few or no others have ever gone so they could be in such places. Middle Fork of the Kings has many such places especially opposite trail sides of the difficult to cross river. However one would expect if so occasional offspring would venture away into human traveled areas so that alone says there are likely few.

Re: Wolverines in the Sierra

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 6:58 pm
by MichaelRPetrick
SSSdave wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2020 4:06 pm Suspect some sightings are actually weasels, badgers, or pine martens. I did see an American badger about Tioga Meadows, and over decade a few pines marten, and many long-tailed weasels. As a landscape photographer, I often go places few or no others venture and from that am aware there are actually significant trail-less and route-less areas where few or no others have ever gone so they could be in such places. Middle Fork of the Kings has many such places especially opposite trail sides of the difficult to cross river. However one would expect if so occasional offspring would venture away into human traveled areas so that alone says there are likely few.
Hmmm... definitely not a weasel or badger, but I do admit it's in the realm of possibility that it was a large pine marten. It would've been a real CHONK though compared to the others I've seen.

However, a Fisher -- something I had not though of -- looks even more like what I saw after seeing this video:

https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/topics/wildli ... ndex.shtml
bobby49 wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2020 3:33 pm If it is inside a national park, then you can report it to the contact person for the national park. If it is inside a national forest, then you can report it to the contact person for the national forest.
Yup, I think I found a USFS research scientist who'd be interested after a little digging.

Re: Wolverines in the Sierra

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 7:47 pm
by bobby49
There is a lot of size difference between a fisher and a wolverine, so I would not expect them to be easily confused.

The book says a fisher is 3-18 pounds, sort of cat-size. A wolverine is 18-42 pounds, sort of dog-size.