Patty Ann Jenik, age 13, of Visalia, Calif., for her question:
What kind of animal is the wolverine?
The scrappy wolverine got himself elected as a state animal, which suggests that some peopie must have admired him. Michigan is the w0iverine State, and at one time the shaggy animal ranged through all our northern states. He was driven back almost across the Canadian border, and no one knows when the last wolverine departed from the Wolverine State.
The wolverine is very unpopular with trappers of the north country, and not a single animal in his range has a good word to say for him. The Eskimos welcome a glimpse of his shaggy form shuffling over the snow. They hunt him for his fur, the only fur in the world which does not freeze in the winter weather. Eskimos use wolverine fur to cuff and collar their parkas.
This should not surprise us, for the wolverine belongs to the best dressed family of fur bearers in the world. He is a mustelid of the mustelldae or wessel family Linnaes classified him as Gulo luscus, meaning glutton and half blind. The Algonquins named him the carcajou. Settlers and trappers of the far north call him the glutton, the badger, the cougar, the skunk bear and the Canadian lynx.
The wolverine, without a doubt, has the unpleasant qualities of all these animals and more besides. The rough toughie is three feet long, plus a foot of foxy tail, and he tips the scales at about 36 pounds. His loose, long fur is dark brown with a wide streak of pale brown along each of his sides. His teeth and his jaws are formidable weapons, and the fierce and fearless wolverine is always ready to fight to the kill.
He can bring down a reindeer and devour it all in a few days. He boldly attacks bears, wolves and mountain lions just for fun. These mighty animals leave their meals when the wolverine approaches rather than scrap with him. He is cunning enough to remove the bait from traps. He is brazen enough to enter a trapper's cabin and devour his store of meat. The shaggy thief also seems to be spiteful. After a raid, the traps are smashed and everything in the cabin is vandalized. This is not all. Everything he touches is befouled, for, like his cousin the skunk, the wolverine is armed with musky glands.
No one has a good word to say for the wolverine; and since he is a solitary fellow, perhaps even he cannot abide other wolverines. However, we can be objective and scientific. The wolverine to be sure is a toughie, but life in the far north is tough, also. It seems sad that such courage may finally prove worthless. He is hunted and driven back from his range, and someday the last of the scrappy wolverines may perish.