Wolverine 957 



had vanished, and the tracks left by the beast showed who had 

 been the thief. The family set to work and, by carefully 

 following up all his paths, recovered, with some trifling 

 exceptions, the whole of the property.'" 



How are we to explain this conduct ? In ancient days or 

 barbarous countries it would be said that the creature was 

 possessed of a devil and no further explanation considered 

 necessary. This is not quite satisfactory to-day. The Wolver- 

 ine undoubtedly follows the trapper because it is hungry and 

 sees a chance of securing a bellyful. Having found food, it 

 takes possession of it in a manner of wide usage. As already 

 noted, small boys and Eskimaux take possession by spitting on 

 the object. Squirrels by licking it. Foxes by urinating on it, 

 and Badgers and several Weasels, including the Wolverine, by 

 anointing it with the oil of their anal glands. This is a potent 

 method that carries strong conviction among most creatures 

 that have retained unimpaired the sense of smell. If the 

 Wolverine be not hungry, its provident instinct prompts it to 

 put the possible food away for some day of worse luck, and, 

 acting on the principle 'better safe than sorry,' it brands again 

 in detail with its execrable odour the treasure trove; in so 

 doing, other things, sticks, pots, etc., with an interesting odour 

 of human grease, are accidentally touched with the oil, the 

 convincing holy oil of the anal glands, and so, by a process not 

 without parallel in other worlds, they are converted to its use 

 and receive the honour of a cache into themselves. It is not 

 to be supposed that any part of the procedure is due to malice. 



The inordinate sagacity of the species is, as with Wolves, 

 largely fear born of sad experience, stimulated by any suggestion 

 of human touch and assisted by nostrils of marvellous acuteness 



Aside from various tricks to decoy it into a trap, there are tocir- 

 at least four ways of solving the Wolverine problem. The ve.\t 

 first is given by Richardson, in his 1851 Journey," thus: " Rae, 

 however, made a safe cellar by cutting a hole in the ice, cover- 



" Vol. II, p. 86. 



