Wolverines are three feet long, with a rather short tail, just one-quarter the total length. Otters are longer, but wolverines are the heaviest of weasels, tipping the scale at 20 to 30 pounds or more. They are stocky mammals, built like a small bear. Their fur is dark brown to black, and the sides have a characteristic yellowish-brown to whitish stripe.
Wolverines have a reputation larger than life, but they are impressive weasels by any standard. Wolverines are three feet long, with a rather short tail, just one-quarter the total length. Otters are longer, but wolverines are the heaviest of weasels, tipping the scale at 20 to 30 pounds or more. They are stocky mammals, built like a small bear. Their fur is dark brown to black, and the sides have a characteristic yellowish-brown to whitish stripe. Like other weasels, wolverines have anal musk-producing glands.
Range
Wolverines are mammals of the dense forest, in both North America and Eurasia.
Habitat
In Colorado, historical and recent reports show nearly all wolverines are from higher elevations, in areas of heavy timber. However, wolverines may follow their considerable appetite into an open country. The only Wolverine spotted in Colorado was in Clear Creek County on Guanella Pass. Read the article!
Diet
By day, wolverines rest in an informal den beneath a boulder or windthrown tree. By night they wander to eat rodents and carrion. Occasionally they may eat weakened deer or other large prey, especially when bogged in deep snow.
Wolverines are legendary marauders of the North, renowned for their strength, cunning, and viciousness. Pound for pound, they are probably no stronger than the next weasel. “Cunning” and “vicious” are terms best reserved for people. People can be cunning and vicious. Wolverines probably are just hungry and quite capable of satisfying it.
Reproduction
Wolverines breed during the warmer months. Embryos implant in January. Two to four young are born in late March or early April. Growth of the blind, toothless newborns is rapid, and they will be half-grown when they disperse in autumn.