Wolverine: “berserker” from the taiga (9 photos)

Wolverine is one of those animals who should be feared in the deep forest. In courage and recklessness, he can be compared with a honey badger.





It's hard not to steel your spirit when you live in the cold regions of Eurasia and North America. Taiga, tundra and forest-tundra are great at developing character! An adult wolverine is a rather impressive beast: its body length reaches 110 cm and its weight reaches 27 kg. This is the largest representative of terrestrial mustelids! Only some aquatic representatives of the genus sea otters are larger in size.



You won’t be able to eat enough of these sizes out of nothing. Especially where there is snow for six months and rain for the remaining six months. The secret of the beast's success is total omnivorousness. Even the Latin name subtly hints at gastronomic promiscuity: Gulo translates as “glutton.”





In the warm season, wolverines modestly content themselves with berries, larvae and small vertebrates. But summer tends to end, while the glutton’s appetite knows no bounds. The animal is capable of killing prey five times its own weight! Therefore, young large forest and domestic ungulates appear on the menu. And when hunger clouds reason, wolverine attacks adults: in Scandinavia, a predator has been recorded attacking semi-domesticated reindeer!





The glutton also looks at his colleagues with appetite. Whenever possible, the wolverine calmly deals with martens, foxes and even lynxes! Only large animals can fight back the insatiable beast: pumas, wolves, bears. But even Wolverine manages to use them!



The cunning man closely watches their hunt in order to seize the right moment and snatch a piece from the master’s table. And if the hunter is a loner, the glutton, armed with nerves of steel, sharp claws and teeth, will go on a racket! Cases have been recorded of a wolverine squeezing prey even from a bear! This is what it means: arrogance is the second happiness!



But if the animal finds stale prey, it’s also not a problem. An elk or seal carcass went underground. Or a cougar stash has been found. What, is this good thing going to waste now? No! With its powerful paws, the wolverine will dig up the remains. Hard bones are also not a problem. The upper molars at the back of the mouth are turned 90 degrees inward, which helps bite through even the most armor-piercing parts of the body!



And the animal does all this alone. The only time bandits cooperate is during the mating season, which lasts from May to August. A male and a female form a union of two hearts for just a couple of weeks, after which the female leaves with a big belly, and the male goes off to seduce other ladies on his territory. Usually the influence of one guy extends over two or three girls' allotments, and he fiercely guards his territories from other candidates for their husbands.



But the fertilized egg in the female does not begin to develop immediately. Pregnancy is delayed for seven to eight months! Embryos are truly formed only towards the end of winter. This is how the mother’s body plans the birth smartly: the cubs are born in the spring, during the season of abundance.



The female creates something like a den for her children. It is impossible without shelter: the babies appear helpless and blind. They will open their eyes only a month after birth! And in three, they will go outside for the first time. This significant event falls just at the beginning of summer. But the female will not send her little bloods out into the cold for another two years! All this time, young people will learn hunting, surveillance and racketeering before leaving their mother to free their bread.