Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Woman saw a wolverine on a Washington state beach, wildlife official didn't believe her

When a woman told a wildlife official she thought she'd seen a wolverine on the beach of Washington state's Long Beach Peninsula they didn't believe her.

The elusive creatures live in remote mountainous areas and any sightings -- let alone on a beach -- are rare, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
Then she showed them a picture. In the May 23 snap, a furry animal with distinctive markings appears to be eating the carcass of a marine animal that washed ashore.
Jeff Lewis, a mesocarnivore conservation biologist with the WDFW, told CNN about the encounter and that he confirmed the animal was indeed a wolverine. There are only around 20 of the mammals in the entire state, according to WDFW. They are usually roaming in the remote mountainous areas of the North Cascades not on the sandy beach.
"This is way outside the beaten path for the wolverines," Lewis said. "It's not near the habitats they are usually at."


The mysterious wolverine is the largest terrestrial member of the weasel family and it can resemble a small bear with a bushy tail. The animal is stocky with short, rounded ears, small eyes, and large feet that are useful for traveling through snow, according to WDFW.

"Large feet useful for traveling through snow"

or sand perhaps?

Cool sighting, and rotting marine mammal smell travels a long way. Would be interesting to know where that critter came from and is going to.

Go Blue

Nope, she's crazy. That's a dog.

woof

[quote=Lennie

The mysterious wolverine is the largest terrestrial member of the weasel family!!!!!!!!
[/quote]


I rest my case Al, and Quak!!!!!!!!!

Go Green Go White!!!

The coastal forests are pretty thick and hide many secrets.

Wolverines are cool and that’s pretty awesome that guy showed up where he wasn’t expected. It’s always good when those science “exspurts” get knocked down a peg or two by being proven wrong.

WDFW is well known for being wrong....they’re so commonly wrong that it’s become normal. 😁

well spoken words of truth. IMHO WDFW training has become the best keystone cop training in the world.

"Only about 20 in the entire state" I'd love to know how they come up with these numbers.

They come up with their numbers and theories from sitting behind a computer and discussing it over lunch.

Well, at Oregon State U there was a professor that had the bright idea to add a fudge factor in on fish counts. So, the fewer you find the higher the fudge factor is. There's not many so you must not be seeing them so you need to add more numbers to account for there being few.


Most likely there are a 22 wolverines in Washington.

Remember the guy from the show Alone that killed the wolverine with an ax after pinning one of its feet to the ground with an arrow.

I saw a pair of Wolverines in Colorado in 2016. Checked the DNR website which claimed there Were only 6 known to be in the state.

I'm willing to bet that total of 20 in the state number is hogwash, too.

I saw a pair of extinct black-footed ferrets in ND before NG re-invented them in WY 10 years later, and a sow griz with cubs in Northern ID when there were none in the state....

I saw a 5 1/2 lb rainbow jumping onto land to snatch skylined voles in SW Alaska. Caught her and ate her, too, only I got her on a red and white spoon dabbed into a hole in the drowned willow. She had so many voles in her, the last one had it's tail hanging out the corner if her mouth yet, another in her gullet, and she was so full she put up virtually no fight.

There were "no cougars in ND", when I came to Alaska, yet 10 years or so later there was a season on them.

There were no wolves in FC Wilderness area before re-introduction, yet my brother and his hunting partner watched a pack of 5 for nearly an hour 5 years earlier.

Once the DNA hair sample study was made, there were twice as many brown bears on the Kenai Peninsula - which we all knew, including the biologists, but without hard science, they had to lfudge their numbers to avoid getting locked into court baddles by the greenies.

Unless that "20" is backed by hard science, it is simply a WAG- and I'm betting (if no science) the numbers are at least doube.

Well afterall, 6,743 have succumbed to the Covid19 virus since March 1st.

Which episode was that I thought I watched them all, but I don’t remember that one

A wolverine can kick a honey badger’s a$$.

Just saying...

Because they put them there