Wolverine Attack on a Moose. 
Ottawa, Can., Dec. 5 .— Editor Forest and 
Stream: During a part of the years 1907-08 I 
was engaged on an exploration in the Rocky 
Mountains between the Yukon River and the 
Mackenzie for the Geological Survey of Canada. 
I was accompanied by R. B. Riddell and J. M. 
Christie, prospectors and hunters of ten years’ 
experience in the Yukon. 
We spent the early part of the winter on Third 
Lake on the Ross River, one of the principal 
tributaries of the Pelly. The winter was un¬ 
usually mild and the snowfall heavy for this 
region. The moose were compelled to leave the 
hills and high valleys at a much earlier date 
than is usually the case, owing to deep snow. 
We left our winter quarters on Feb. 12 to 
snow which had apparently been used for a 
considerable time. 
The paw marks were those of a wolverine, 
and mostly recent, the oldest not being more 
than a few days old. There were also several 
holes resembling burrows in the snow at the 
side of the moose trails, evidently made by the 
wolverine. There were also claw marks on the 
bark of some of the spruce trees, on the trunk 
and on the low growing branches within easy 
reach of the surface of the deep snow. Beyond 
the mass of trails and tracks a wolverine trail 
coming down the river showed quite distinct. 
There was a sufficiently strong crust on the snow 
to hold an animal of this size, but it would not 
hold up our dogs. 
After a thorough examination, Christie came 
to the conclusion that there was only one moose 
hoping the moose would pass under him, and 
he finally succeeded in dropping on the animal’s 
back. In his struggles to dislodge his enemy 
the moose knocked the bark off some trees with 
his hoofs and trampled out the pit in which we 
found him. 
The wolverine would have killed the moose 
in a very short time if we had not driven him 
off, and it was fortunate for us that we sup¬ 
planted him, as our supply of dried meat was 
almost exhausted. 
Mr. Christie did not see the wolverine at the 
time he first saw the moose. He was breaking 
trail with small shoes in deep snow and no 
doubt made sufficient noise to alarm him. 
We camped about two miles above where the 
moose was killed. Mr. Riddell jumped the 
wolverine close to our trail the day after, be- 
VALLEY NEAR HEADWATERS OF ROSS RIVER. 
Showing thinly wooded and bleak character of valley near heads of streams. 
ROSS RIVER VALLEY—NEAR SCENE OF MOOSE KILLING. 
Trail of Mr. Keele’s party in the deep snow. 
sled across the divide. Our progress was slow, 
as we had heavy loads and only three dogs. 
Stormy weather and drifted snow also helped 
to keep us a long time on the trail. 
On the morning of March 27 Christie, who 
was breaking trail ahead of me, came hurrying 
back, saying that he had seen a moose and was 
going to camp for his rifle. He soon returned 
and we went on to where he had seen the ani- 
j| mal, which was still standing among some spruce 
trees on the bank of the river with its head and 
: neck just above the snow. 
Christie stepped aside a few paces from the 
trail and shot the moose. When we reached 
the dead moose we found him lying in a pit 
about ten feet wide which he had evidently made 
himself. We were surprised to see several 
I patches of moose hair on the ground, and more 
so to find a large hole apparently freshly gnawed 
into the animal’s backbone, the spinal cord being 
almost laid bare. Our attention was next drawn 
to the trails and marks in the snow beyond the 
pit where the moose lay. The surface of the 
snow was much broken up in the vicinity, both 
by hoof and small paw marks. Some of the 
tracks were quite fresh and some were old. 
There were moose trails deeply trenched in the 
and one wolverine concerned, and that we had 
interrupted a tragedy which is unique in the 
annals of the far North country. We were 
the only travelers in the region, and with the 
exception of a few marten, these the only wild 
animals. We had seen no moose signs for the 
last thirty miles, nor did we expect to see any 
more, as we were now at the slopes of the water¬ 
shed range, and nearly at the head of the Ross 
River. 
This particular moose, a three-year-old bull, 
had evidently lingered and become snowed in 
after all the rest moved down the valley early 
in the winter. There were several clumps of 
willows scattered through the thin growth of 
spruce, and he must have procured enough to 
eat, as he was in full flesh. There was about 
five feet of snow, and his track between the 
clumps of willows was a trench. 
There were no rabbits in the country, hence 
the wolverine, desperate with hunger, had laid 
plans to kill this lone moose. He first tried ham¬ 
stringing by lying in burrows in the snow and 
waiting for the moose to pass by conveniently. 
There were marks on the hocks where hair had 
been torn off and the skin scratched, but not 
broken. Failing this, he climbed several trees, 
tween our camp and where the moose was killed. 
The following day Mr. Christie and myself both 
saw the wolverine above the camp. The valley 
was nearly bare of timber and we saw him for 
a long time. He was running on the crust. 
After this we had two large steel traps set on 
his trails for the purpose of trapping him, but 
did not succeed in doing so. 
We had seen no wolverine signs for at least 
twenty miles coming up the valley, and the men 
were satisfied that there was only one in this 
locality. Wolverines are great rustlers and 
range over a great stretch of country. There 
was no game in the part described, and he was 
simply traveling in search of something, when 
he ran across this isolated moose. For all we 
know to the contrary he may have come from 
the other side of the divide, but a heavy snow¬ 
fall and a high wind a day or so later obliterated 
all marks. 
We saw ptarmigan in great numbers. Some¬ 
times flocks of fifty birds feeding in the willows 
on the other side of the divide, and the wol¬ 
verine may have been trying his luck there. But 
I have seen wolverine tracks in the snow on 
mountain tops 3,000 feet or more above the 
valley. J- Keele. 
