Distinctly Montana Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.distinctlymontana.com/i/20776
FISHING MUSIC II a New collection of acoustic folk, blues & swing spots? What would managers need to do to protect dens from disturbance? As with most questions about wolverine life, the answers were either vague or nonexistent. Adding to the urgency is the current rate of climate change. What little was known about the range of wolver- ines made it plain that they are tied to environments with fairly heavy snowfall and cool year-round temperatures... To endure over time, though, the animals are going to need wildland corridors that guarantee individuals the freedom to roam from one chain of peaks to the next. As wolverines struggle to adapt to changing weather and shifting habitats in the warmer years to come, link- age zones running in a north-south direction may prove especially vital. Yet before ecologists can identify the best routes – the wildways that hold the most promise for keep- ing groups connected – many more gaps in our knowledge of the species’ natural history have to be filled in. here isA new spirited mix the country’s A follow-up to the acclaimed Fishing Music, of songs and tunes inspired by fish, fishing, and rivers, finest acoustic musicians... original performancesby some of Ben Winship Douglas H. Chadwick is a wildlife biologist and journalist who not-so-secretly wants to be a wolverine. Or at least to master the mountains half as well as your average Gulo gulo. Except, he says, he’d like to skip their habit of facing off with grizzlies over carcasses and trying to intimidate the bears. He has traveled the remote reaches of the globe on magazine assignments to learn about untamed creatures and ecosystems and is the author of 11 popular books. This excerpt is by permission of publisher Patagonia Books. David Thompson Mike Dowling Mollie O’Brien Rob Ickes Tim O’Brien CATCH IT AT: www.fishingmusic.com and many more... One capture season while out in the field a wolverine revealed its unique character. We had implanted the mother and one kit and were interested in implanting the second offspring. We found the family of three by helicopter loping straight up the highest mountain face in the region. We gingerly landed the helicopter at the mountains’ ridge to head them off. Mark Packila, field biologist, took off ahead while I post-holed my way through deep snow behind him. Unfortunately, one kit and mother wolverine had crested the mountaintop and were headed out of sight down the back side. As I began to descend the mountain’s north face, I found Mark, wolverine, and snow rolling down the steep slope. No vegetation lay in their wake except for a small tumble weed. Luckily its roots and frozen ground were enough to stop the mo- mentum of this mammal-made snowball a few hundred yards below me. By the time I got to the site there was more red snow than white and I wondered which one was my patient. Mark had captured a juvenile wolverine with his bare hands—and he was paying the price. But it was the wrong wolverine. Telemetry told us that we had implanted this kit on a previous day and the one we wanted was running down the backside of the mountain. The kit we had was extraordinary. Although young, this resilient animal could bound up the face of a mountain, wrestle a grown man, leaving him bleeding yet remain unscathed. He continued gracefully up the mountain to reunite with his mother and sibling. No wonder wolverines are considered the real ‘iron men’ of the animal kingdom. Deb McCauley, DMV, treats an anesthesized wolverine. www.distinctlymontana.com 23 RICK YATES featuring: