Sierra Nevada Porcupine?

[gdurkee]

Well, late to the party.. . This is embarrassing. I should really know what that is.. I started with marmot but the coloring is weird, though not totally out of range. The coloring is closer to that of a porcupine's end quills. They would walk really slow and not be at all afraid of you -- as would a habituated marmot.

The key is you really notice the quills on a porcupine. They're often bushed out from the body and kinda wave as he waddles along. A marmot is just pure fur (and fat...).

Fishers are uniformly dark and a wolverine is really big -- like mistaken for a bear cub big. Also, outside of Alaska, I've never heard of anyone being that close to a wolverine for any length of time (like seconds...). Also also: wolverine are extremely rare in the Sierra such that no biologist believes they exist (though I believe they come through occasionally -- too many sightings over the years).

I'm going with porcupine but can be talked out of it... . Oh. Just saw the video link. Moves like a porcupine. Usually the quills are at least partially fluffed out but not always.

They used to be fairly common. I'd seen them in LeConte Canyon and along the JMT heading up to Forester. Also McClure. Starting in the early 90s I would see fewer of them. There's been no formal study but others, anecdotally, have noticed the same. No idea why. They're totally protected in the parks and, other than very careful and very hungry coyote, don't have predators.

[John Harper]

My buddy and I saw a wolverine several years ago on Mammoth Scenic Loop Drive about 4AM. Low slung and muscular, looked just like the picture in my field guide. Still, it was hard to believe, but it sure wasn't a mountain lion, marmot, bear cub, or coyote. Nor the mysterious (and small) mountain beaver, which I've seen a couple times up in Horseshoe Meadow.

Soon after I did some research and found that wolverines actually have been reported seen in the Sierra.

John

[gdurkee]

John: amazing! Did you report that anywhere? There's a great site https://www.inaturalist.org/ where you can at least record it and give as much information as possible. I checked the wildlife observation database for both Yosemite and Sequoia Kings (up to about 2000) and there's a dozen or so wolverine sightings for each over the decades. Still, wildlife biologists don't believe them but several of the sightings are from very experienced people.

Mountain beaver? Aplodontia?? Where? That stream leading up to Cottonwood Pass? That's also very cool. I know of only one other sighting in Kings in 60 Lakes Basin though, if I had the database, I'm sure there's others. There's also regular beaver, of course, on many of the east side lakes and streams. They were introduced (reintroduced? There's some controversy) on the Kern river. At least in the 80s there were still sign they were active as far up as Junction Meadow.

Here's wolverine from inaturalist:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=41852
https://www.inaturalist.org/observation ... n_id=41852

Just checking that site, there's a cluster up by Tahoe in the last few years and by competent people with good photos of tracks. So one at Mammoth is not at all surprising to me. When I was in Sequoia there was at least one reliable sighting around Tyndall in the 80s.

A wolverine sighting is one of those once in a lifetime things for California anyway. Congrats!

[kpeter]

I vote porcupine. Marmots do not move like that. And the coloration makes more sense for quills. Perhaps it lost many of its forward quills in a recent fight.

[bobby49]

I saw and photographed my one and only wolverine outside Stanley Idaho about a dozen years ago. It made my whole day!

Of course, if you check it, when the Forest Service needs to do research on wolverines, they go to Stanley Idaho. When the National Park Service needs to do it, they go to Glacier National Park.

[John Harper]

John: amazing! Did you report that anywhere? There's a great site https://www.inaturalist.org/ where you can at least record it and give as much information as possible. I checked the wildlife observation database for both Yosemite and Sequoia Kings (up to about 2000) and there's a dozen or so wolverine sightings for each over the decades. Still, wildlife biologists don't believe them but several of the sightings are from very experienced people.

Mountain beaver? Aplodontia?? Where? That stream leading up to Cottonwood Pass? That's also very cool. I know of only one other sighting in Kings in 60 Lakes Basin though, if I had the database, I'm sure there's others. There's also regular beaver, of course, on many of the east side lakes and streams. They were introduced (reintroduced? There's some controversy) on the Kern river. At least in the 80s there were still sign they were active as far up as Junction Meadow.

Here's wolverine from inaturalist:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=41852
https://www.inaturalist.org/observation ... n_id=41852

Just checking that site, there's a cluster up by Tahoe in the last few years and by competent people with good photos of tracks. So one at Mammoth is not at all surprising to me. When I was in Sequoia there was at least one reliable sighting around Tyndall in the 80s.

A wolverine sighting is one of those once in a lifetime things for California anyway. Congrats!

Yes, I've seen two mountain beavers up in Horseshoe Meadow, in the "unnamed creek" through the meadow.

Not only that, but I had mountain lion run through my camp up in Idaho four years ago. I think camping alone allows me to see things people camped in groups never see.

John

[Troutdog 59]

Now a biologist I'm not, but I think c9 has his ID correct. I'll vote porcupine as well. I've only ever seen 2 since 1975, but they are out there.