112 



AIAALMALS OF AAIERICA 



so caught, but also of articles of no possible serv- 

 ice to itself ; and avoids with most admirable 

 cunning the various methods devised for its 

 destruction in retaliation." 



The fur of the ^^'olve^ene is highly valued 

 both by civilized and uncivilized people. A 

 number of skins sewed together make a very 

 beautiful carriage robe or hearth-rug, and the 

 pelts are in common use for these purposes. 

 The Indians and Esquimaux use the fur as they 

 do that of the Wolf, for fringing their gar- 

 ments, the skin being in strips for this purpose. 



The Wolverene ranges in greater or less 

 abundance all over the northern portions of this 

 country. It appears to be particularly numer- 

 ous in the Mackenzie river region, and it fairly 

 infests the whole country bordering the lower 

 portions of this river and the west side of the 

 mountains. From this country, many accounts 

 from various officers of the Hudson's Bay Com- 

 pany bear witness to the wonderful cunning and 

 sagacity of the beast, as well as its ferocity, and 

 represent it to be the greatest enemy with which 

 the hunters and trappers have to contend in the 

 purstiit of fur-bearing animals. 



To the trapper, Wolverenes are especially an- 

 noying. When they have discovered a line of 

 marten traps they will never abandon the road, 

 and must be killed before the trapping can be 

 successfully carried on. Beginning at one end, 

 they proceed from trap to trap along the whole 

 line, pulling them successively to pieces, and 

 taking out the baits from behind. When they 

 can eat no more, they continue to steal the baits 

 and cache them. If hungry, they may devour 

 two or three of the martens they find captured, 

 the remainder being carried off and hidden in the 

 snow at a considerable distance. The work of 

 demolition goes on as fast as the traps can be 

 renewed. 



The propensity to steal and hide things is 

 one of the strongest traits of the Wolverene. 

 To such an extent is it developed that the animal 

 will often secrete articles of no possible use 

 to itself. Besides the wanton destruction of 

 traps, it will carry off the sticks and hide them 

 at a distance, apparently in sheer malice. Mr. 

 Ross has given an amusing instance of the ex- 

 treme of this propensity : " The desire for ac- 

 cumulating property seems so deeply implanted 

 in this animal, that, like tame ravens, it does 

 not appear to care much what it steals so that 

 it can exercise its favorite propensity to com- 

 mit mischief. An instance occurred within my 

 own knowledge in which a hunter and his family 

 having left their lodge unguarded during their 



absence, on their return found it completely 

 gutted — the walls were there but nothing else. 

 Blankets, guns, kettles, axes, cans, knives and 

 all the other paraphernalia of a trapper's tent 

 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 excep- 

 tions, the whole of the lost property." 



Fatal tragedies have occurred in pioneer 

 camps, on account of such thefts — the man who 

 suffered the loss of his goods often suspecting 

 one of his human neighbors. 



Though very clumsy, the Wolverene manages 

 to capture, at times, such prey as hares or 

 grouse, and successfully attacks disabled deer. 

 It also feeds on offal or carrion ; in fact, any- 

 thing that it can catch or steal. Its own flesh 

 is only eatable in the extreme of starvation. 

 Wolverenes bring forth in burrows under 

 ground, probably old bear washes, and have 

 four or five young at a birth. It is very rarely 

 that they are discovered at this period or while 

 suckling their young. One reason, however, 

 may be that they reproduce late in June and 

 early in July, when the mosquitoes are so nu- 

 merous that no one who can avoid it goes abroad 

 in the woods. The mating season is in the latter 

 part of March. The female is ferocious in the 

 defense of her young, and if disturbed at this 

 time will not hesitate to attack a man. Indeed, 

 Indians have been heard to aver that they would 

 sooner encoimter a she-Bear with her cubs than 

 a Carcajou under the same circumstances. In 

 October, when the rivers set fast, the Wolver- 

 enes reappear in families, the young still follow- 

 ing their dam, though now not much her in- 

 ferior in size. They are full grown when about a 

 year old. In early infancy, the cubs are said to 

 be a pale cream color. 



The ferocity of the Wolverene, no less than 

 its cunning, is illustrated in some of the endless 

 occasions on which it matches its powers against 

 those of its worst enemy. A man had set a gun 

 for a Carcajou which had been on his usual 

 round of demolition of IMarten traps. The ani- 

 mal seized the bait unwarily, and set off the 

 gun ; but owing to the careless or improper set- 

 ting, the charge missed or only wounded it. The 

 Carcajou rushed upon the weapon, tore it from 

 its fastenings, and chewed the stock to pieces. 

 It is added to the accotmt of this exploit that 

 the beast finished by planting the barrel muzzle 

 downward in the snow; but this may not be 

 fully credited. The stories that pass current 

 among trappers in the North would alone fill 



