In the lower 48 states, there are believed to be only some 300 wolverines in existance spread thinly across the North Cascades of Washington, the Sierra Nevada in northern California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana,, southern Rockies of Colorado and perhaps Utah and Nevada..........."Published accounts by early naturalists indicate that wolverines were rarely, if ever, encountered in the upper Midwest and Northeast regions of the contiguous United States"........... "While historical records are sparse and haphazard in those regions and the habitat conditions today are far differint from the Intermountain West, it should be noted that during the Little Ice Age, AD1300-1870, temperatures in Eastern North America were some 3.6 degrees colder than today, with snowfall occuring as late as June"..........."As an example, in New England and the Mid Atlantic states, the year 1816 was known as 'the Year Without a Summer', with six inches of snow falling in June, with every month of that year recording a hard frost"............"Temperatures dropped to as low as 40 degrees in July and August".........."Knowing this, it is easier to believe that the early settlement records mentioning the Wolverine to be potentially valid".................."Regionally referred to as the mountain devil, the quickhatch, the carcajou and the skunk bear, the Wolverine is our largest Weasel, topping off at 40 pounds"............."Perhaps North Americas most ferocious carnivore, a single Wolverine can claw and gnash down an elk and fight off wolves and bears over any size animal carcass" .............."But for all their ability to defend themselves and seek out food, their habitat requirement of high altitude boreal forests and/or alpine tundra coupled with late, deep Spring snowpack, make them highly vulnerable to extirpation in our human dominated world"................."A solitary animal, one male may mark off a territory up to 600-square miles (half the size of Rhode Island), breeding with several females in its range"............ "Two year old females are capable of breeding only once annually,(perhaps 53% of female Wolverines actually breed each year) raising their 1-2 kits in the Spring, in the heavy snowpack, sometimes no lower than 8,000 feet high in the mountain peaks"........."Like the Lynx, Wolverines have wide flat snowshoe-like feet, with their fur being frost resistant".............."The Mountain Men Trappers of Rocky Mountain North America during 1800-1840 seriously hunted them, turning their fur into winter resistant coats".............."Overhunting, coupled with habitat alteration and lack of Spring snowpack, along with their previously mentioned low-end birthrate has made them a fragmented and isolated animal, one with a small population poorly adapted to survive in today’s ever-anthropocentric world where smaller and smaller American locales experience deep Spring snowpack for optimum breeding"..........The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service which has previously refused to put the Wolverine on the Endangered Species List has been ordered by a Federal Judge to re-evaluate that decision-perhaps keeping the Wolverine with us for sometime longer.................Truly teriffic to actually see an unusally large litter(3 kits) of Wolverines documented this past July in the Bitteroot Mountains of Montana(see video in article below)............We hope beyond hope that this charismatic and truly American fellow denizen somehow gets the protection it deserves, so as to "to live long and prosper"

https://www.wideopenspaces.com/wolverine-babies-spotted-for-the-first-time-ever-in-the-bitterroot-national-forest/

WOLVERINE BABIES SPOTTED FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER IN THE BITTERROOT NATIONAL FOREST

Posted by Brad Smith

July 23, 2018

So, this is kind of a big deal. 

Wolverines are fierce little predators. They make bears look elsewhere if there’s an animal carcass up for grabs. Even though these animals are widespread, there aren’t many in the lower 48 states.

The highest density the United States has is in Alaska. Otherwise, they inhabit almost all of northern Canada as well as parts of Europe.

That said, video evidence has just emerged that spotted wolverine babies and their mother in the Bitterroot National Forest of Montana

Every now and then, we get reports of single, nomadic wolverines crossing the northern parts of the U.S. However, this indicates we might be getting a breading population in some areas.

“We?re beyond excited to have this great footage of wolverine babies in the Sapphire Mountains of the Bitterroot National Forest,” said Kylie Paul, a coordinator of scientists and citizens working together to track these creatures. “There are only small pockets of high-quality wolverine habitat in the Sapphires and this shows how valuable those secure pockets are for these critters.”

Since the inception of the program back in 2015, only 10 wolverines have been spotted in this area. It seems like there’s going to be a boom of more footage and sightings soon.

CLICK ON ARROW BELOW TO VIEW THE BITTEROOT WOLVERINE KITS FROM THIS SUMMER 2018