The video of a wolverine in the Tetons above was shot in December, on the west slopes of the Tetons, reports Buckrail, and pictures have been caught as recent as April 15th.
The wolverine, also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, skunk bear, or quickhatch, is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more closely resembling a small bear than other mustelids. A solitary animal, it has a reputation for ferocity and strength out of proportion to its size, with the documented ability to kill prey many times larger than itself.
The wolverine is found primarily in remote reaches of the Northern boreal forests and subarctic and alpine tundra of the Northern Hemisphere, with the greatest numbers in Northern Canada, the American state of Alaska, the mainland Nordic countries of Europe, and throughout western Russia and Siberia. Its population has steadily declined since the 19th century owing to trapping, range reduction, and habitat fragmentation. The wolverine is now essentially absent from the southern end of its European range. Less than 300 are thought to exist in the US.
A wolverine was seen near Truckee, CA in 2008 for the first time in over 80-years. The same creature was caught on video almost 10-years later:
According to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publication, as of 2014 “wolverines are found in the North Cascades in Washington and the Northern Rocky Mountains in Idaho, Montana, Oregon (Wallowa Range), and Wyoming. Individual wolverines have also moved into the historic range in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California and the Southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, but have not established breeding populations in these areas.
