244 The Wolverene. 



our animal -watclies large beasts like a robber, or surprises therii 

 when asleep, and that after having darted down from a tree like 

 an arrow upon the reindeer or elk he sinks his teeth into its 

 body and gnaws its flesh till it expires, after which he devours it 

 at his ease and swallows both hair and skin. 



It is frequently the task of the modern Naturalist to strip the 

 accounts of those more ancient of much that is marvellous, and 

 those who have recently and without prejudice studied the Wolve- 

 rene or glutton find him a very ordinary animal much resembling 

 in appearance a small brown bear, its length being scarcely three 

 feet and its heio^ht not much exceedinof one foot. Its head is of 

 moderate size, broad on the hinder part, much arched, rounded 

 on all sides ; nose obtuse, naked ; eyes small ; ears short, broad, 

 rounded, and partially hidden by the surrounding fur. The body 

 is long in proportion to the height of the animal, and its tail in- 

 stead of being long enough to wind round the body is only seven 

 or eight inches in length. The legs are short and stout, and each 

 one of the five toes is armed with a rounded and pretty sharp 

 claw. The feet are broad, and clothed on the under surface with 

 woolly hairs, so that the tracks made on the snow by the animal 

 are large and are said to be not very unlike those of the bear. 

 The fur is also like that of the bear. It is in general dark brown 

 approaching to black. A pale reddish band commences behind the 

 shoulder, and running along the flanks, turns up on the hip, and 

 unites on the rump with similar markings on the opposite side. 

 The nose, eyes and whiskers are black, legs and tail brownish 

 black, and claws dark brown. 



As to the habits of the Wolverene, Sir John Richardson says 



that it feeds chiefly on the carcases of animals that have been 



killed by accident. It also devours meadow-mice, marmots and 



other rodentia, and occasionally destroys disabled quadrupeds of 



a larger size ; it possesses neither the agility nor the strength to 



destroy deer or other large game, as is stated by the early writers. 



Richardson saw one chasing an American hare, which was at the 



same time harassed by the large white owl. The speed of the 



hare is, however, greater than that of the Wolverene. All writers 



agree that it follows the footsteps of the trapper in order to prey 



upon the hare, marten, beaver or other animal that may be 



caught in them, or to feed upon the bait. It is probable, however, 



that in such excursions the animal is directed by scenting the bait 



at a distance, and thus finds its way to the traps. We cannot 



