358 Frertp Musrum or Natura. History — Zooey, Vot. XI. 
Wolverines do not hibernate but wander about in the snow in the 
coldest weather. Audubon and Bachman tracked one for five miles 
over snow-covered hills in northern New York.* Mr. Edward G. 
Kingsford of Iron Mountain, Michigan, who met with this species a 
number of times in Minnesota, writes: 
“T remember chasing one on snow shoes in Minnesota about fifteen 
miles, thinking that I might catch him as the snow was soft and his short 
legs seemed to go in full length, but he was going when I quit.” 
According to various writers the Wolverine makes its den in a hollow 
in the ground or a natural cave under rocks. The young are born in 
May or June and usually number from 2 to 4, although, according to 
MacFarlane, 5 are occasionally found in a litter.T 
This species possesses anal glands secreting a rather thick yellowish 
brown fluid. The odor is extremely noxious, but the fluid cannot be 
forcibly ejected to a distance. 
Genus PUTORIUS{ Cuvier. 
Putorius Cuvier, Régne Animal, I, 1817, p.147. Type Mustela putorius 
Linn. 
Body long; tail close-haired or bushy; legs short; carnassial tooth in 
lower jaw without internal cusp; rostrum short; bulle flattened. Differs 
in dentition from genus Mustela by having one less premolar on each side 
of upper and lower jaw. 
3 I-I 
J 3, C. sash Pm. a3) M. ——_ = 34. 
ames) I-I 37-3 2-2 
Dental formula: I. 
Two subgenera, which may be characterized as follows, are repre- 
sented within our limits: 
A. Total length generally more than 19.50 inches (size variable); color brown all 
over, including under parts, except a white spot on chin and usually another on 
the breast; soles of feet mostly bare; does not turn white in winter. 
Subgenus LUTREOLA, Mrnxs, p. 361. 
B. Total length less than 19.50 inches; color brown above, white or yellowish white 
below; soles of feet mostly covered with hair; turns white in winter in this 
‘latitude. Subgenus ICTIS, WEASELS, p. 366. 
* Quadrupeds of N. Amer., I, 1846, p. 207. 
{ Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., XXVIII, 1905, p. 708. 
t According to Thomas (Proc. Zo6l. Soc. Lond., 1911, p. 139) the name Putorius, 
commonly used for this genus, must be changed to Mustela; and the name Mustela, 
at present used for the Martens, must give place to Martes. 
