Wolverines—More Than Claws & Fury

Far to the north in the frozen Arctic wilderness dwells a rare and mysterious creature. Some brave souls traverse long and treacherous terrain and endure deadly cold just to catch a glimpse of the beast. Some report being filled with dread, while others recount their experience with reverential awe. Elusive, graceful, horrifying—such is the wolverine.

Imagine an animal as large as a medium-sized dog that chases bears up trees and can hold its own against a pack of wolves. It can kill prey 10 times its size and outrun, outlast, and outmaneuver most creatures it encounters. It sometimes eats every part of its prey, including bones and teeth. The mere sight of its long, curved claws and jagged teeth is enough to intimidate the most stouthearted among us.

How does this formidable beast glorify the God who made everything “very good” in the beginning? Has its fierce reputation been exaggerated? There’s more to the wolverine than claws and fury. Experience and research continue to reveal a wonderful and captivating creature that showcases God’s engineering, beauty, and providence for his creation in a fallen world.

Methinks It Is Like a Weasel

Even though they look like small bears, wolverines are basically enormous weasels. Wolverines belong to Mustelidae, a family that includes weasels, badgers, and otters, and into which God placed tremendous variety in the beginning. Creation scientists think Mustelidae may represent a single created kind, all descending from an original pair aboard the ark. The common features of mustelids—including slender body shape, short legs, round ears, specialized teeth, and an audacious attitude—are part of a package God gave this kind so they could diversify and fill even the most remote places of the earth.

They also stink. Like most mustelids, wolverines have a pair of anal scent glands for marking territory and defending themselves. Research has shown that the chemicals wolverines spray are different from those in skunk spray. And, unlike skunks, they don’t actively spray when threatened. Rather, the scent reminds other animals not to impose on their turf.

Food Fighters

The name wolverine comes from “wolvering” (related to the word wolf ), but its scientific name, Gulo gulo, means “glutton.” That label, while somewhat of a misnomer, came from the sight of the creature devouring massive prey—like moose—and probably its willingness to eat just about anything. Wolverines are mostly scavengers but will play the role of hunter or even omnivore, eating insects and berries. Because food is scarce in the frigid Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America where the wolverine lives, its eating habits are not so much gluttonous as they are necessary for survival. A wolverine won’t sit down and eat a whole moose in one sitting, but it will bury whatever it doesn’t eat in the snow. It then sprays the spot with its scent gland so it can enjoy the leftovers later. Other animals wouldn’t dare disturb the cache in the meantime.

Many of the wolverine’s features, modified from their original uses in a vegetarian lifestyle, now suit its post-fall dietary habits. Scavenging is a competitive sport, so those claws and teeth come in really handy when contending with ravens, bears, wolves, and other wolverines. Their audacity and tenacity give these scrappy, 30-pound (18 kg) mega-weasels the pluck to stand their ground against grim odds.

The Honorable Snow Beast

If the snow melts and the environment becomes what we humans would consider more hospitable, wolverines often retreat to less decent places.

Lest you feel sorry for wolverines having to tough it out in such harsh conditions, remember that they thrive there by design. In fact, if the snow melts and the environment becomes what humans would consider more hospitable, wolverines often retreat to less decent places. Their diet relies on the harsh cold and snow, in which other animals sometimes perish. When summer hits, eating opportunities diminish, and wolverines must rely on stored food.

Thanks to God-given instinct, wolverines know that snow makes an ideal situation for giving birth to and raising their young (called kits). When making dens in the snow, mother wolverines instinctively choose snowdrifts, which will hold well into the spring. These dens extend up to 200 feet long (61 m). They contain rooms for sleeping, storing food, eliminating waste, and rearing young. There are even natal dens where the kits are born, and “maternal” dens to where the kits are moved when they get a little older.

While other animals are hibernating, the wolverine remains active all year round.

But when it comes to keeping warm, the wolverine’s fur is where the real magic happens, making the wolverine immune to the subzero temperatures of its homeland. Shaggy, oily, and dense, this fur is unlike any other fur in the animal world. This coat provides such excellent insulation that snow will not melt when the wolverine lies on it. Frost, which collects on other animal fur, brushes easily off wolverine fur.

Wolverines can move very well in the Arctic environment. Their paws act as snowshoes, expanding to nearly double their size. Able to cover a lot of ground, wolverines have been tracked traveling hundreds of miles in just a few months. With lightweight, muscular bodies and long claws for traversing mountainous terrain, wolverines choose to go over mountains instead of around them. One wolverine was tracked scaling a near-vertical cliff face of almost 5,000 feet (1,524 m) in just 90 minutes.

Living Legends

With such mystique, deftness, and ferocity, this one creature can leave disparate impressions on people. To some, wolverines are enigmatic wonders; to others, they are the stuff of nightmares. Either way, a closer look reveals God’s handiwork and providence. The wolverine is well furnished with awe-inspiring designs scientists and enthusiasts are still trying to figure out. God lovingly provided for them from the beginning, knowing the kind of world they would inhabit after the fall, so that the glory of the Lord would be known even to the ends of the earth.