Wolverine

[Dreamwoven]

I have learned a lot about the wolverine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine), Sweden's only member of the scavenger (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scavenger) family among mammals that Sweden has in some numbers. The Wikipedia page on wolverines was particularly informative. Its numbers have been in decline and now are restricted to Norrland. They are shy of human contact, and can be best described as being like a small bear.

A prime characteristic of wolverines is a powerful jaw that can crack bones, and the ability to bring down animals much larger than themselves.

There is a town called Järvsö (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Järvsö) north of Gävle. In English the Järv part of the name means "Wolverine" in Swedish. I also watched the one-hour programme on scavengers in Sweden Mitt i Naturen, which was shown recently on SVT1.

I didn't realise the scavenger family was so large, including hedgehogs, blowflies, vultures and crows:

Well-known scavengers of animal material include vultures, burying beetles, blowflies, yellowjackets, and raccoons. Many large carnivores that hunt regularly, such as hyenas, but also animals rarely thought of as scavengers, such as African lions, leopards, jackals, and wolves will scavenge if given the chance. They may also use their size and ferocity to intimidate the original hunters (the cheetah is a notable exception). Almost all scavengers above insect size will hunt if not enough carrion is available, as few ecosystems provide enough dead animals year-round to keep its scavengers fed on that alone. Scavenger wild dogs and crows frequently exploit roadkill. Despite its reputation as a ferocious freshwater predator, the red-bellied piranha is actually a generally timid scavenger, fulfilling a role similar to vultures on land. Scavengers of dead plant material include termites that build nests in grasslands and then collect dead plant material for consumption within the nest. The interaction between scavenging animals and humans is seen today most commonly in suburban settings with animals such as opossums, polecats and raccoons. In some African towns and villages, scavenging from hyenas is also common. (An extract from the Wikipedia page on scavengers)

Like many scavengers, wolverines have been hunted almost to the point of extinction. Their fur was valued for its warmth and strength.

[Dreamwoven]

Wolverine population has been recovering since 1969 when it was protected in Sweden. Counts are taken periodically using an agreed method with Norway to ensure the two countries are comparable. This website is in Swedish but contains information and map distributions: http://www.naturvardsverket.se/Var-natur/Jakt/Jakt-pa-rovdjur/Jakt-pa-jarv/

[desiresjab]

I have included el gulo extensively in my own fiction. Mining camps and other rough regions of the old west were keen on animal fights. Emporer Maximilian of Mexico once imported an African lion to fight a grizzly. The grizzly is said to have dispatched the lion easily. That is a grizzly story, I know.

[Dreamwoven]

Interesting, desiresjab, the wolverine is known to have defeated other animals up to several times its own size.

[Dreamwoven]

I have just joined the LitNet nature lovers (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/group.php?groupid=42) group for those who love all aspects of nature. Wolverines and the other nature posts/threads like birds (Canadian Goose thread), and trees (Rowan and Birch Trees thread) are the other threads I started.

[Dreamwoven]

There was a TV series (three one-hour programmes) on wolves in Yellowstone National Park. It followed a female wolf that created its own wolf-flock and defended it against other wolves. Very interesting, though I have only seen the first two programmes so far.

[Dreamwoven]

I watched about 20 minutes of a one hour TV programme on Venice and its archipelago. A brief part included the European pine marten, showing how it raided a bird's nest for eggs. Nature in the archipelago is very rich, especially bird life. You can read about this animal here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_pine_marten.

[Dreamwoven]

I watched a TV programme on the African Lion, though it was about the lion in India. See this wikipedia item on Lion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion.

[Danik 2016]

I thought first this thread was about the film. I´m glad it is about mamals. The Pine Martin looks cute.

Jaguar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar

[Dreamwoven]

I watched a TV programme on the African Lion, though it was about the lion in India. See this wikipedia item on Lion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion.

It was certainly a lion and not any other animal, and it fed on food left there by hunters. I think it may have been on a reservation. The lion and humans seemed to get on well together.

[Danik 2016]

Sure, DW!I love lions. I am just adding other mamals to the thread.

[Dreamwoven]

I hope this thread doesn't develop into a forum games thread. I pride myself on being able to say something new about animals or birds in my threads. I guess in that sense I am different from most others, many of whom "collect" threads. For me its the opposite, saying what I want to say in the fewest number of posts.

[Dreamwoven]

I thought first this thread was about the film. I´m glad it is about mamals. The Pine Martin looks cute.

Jaguar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar

The jaguar is a very elegant animal, sleek and powerful. It would be a shame if it became extinct.

[Danik 2016]

I don´t want to turn it into a game, DW! My idea is just add other species to the animal threads as a sort of dialogue. There are many Northern species of birds and other animals that I don´t know and there are Southern species I don´t know about. But if you don´t want the threads to be developed that way you just say so.

[Dreamwoven]

Great, thats the way to do it!

[Dreamwoven]

I found the website on the Asiatic Lion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_lion. It was saved from extinction by being in a reservation:

Gir Forest in Gujarat, Western India, is the only wild habitat for the Asiatic lion, where an area of 1,412.1 km2 (545.2 sq mi) was declared as a sanctuary for their conservation in 1965. Later, a national park covering an area of 258.71 km2 (99.89 sq mi) was established where no human activity is allowed. In the surrounding sanctuary only Maldharis have the right to graze their livestock.[31]

[Dreamwoven]

Yesterday evening I saw on TV a programme about Attenborough's Curiosities, this one on the Zebra and why it is so striped. It seems it give partial protection against the tsetse fly, the bite of which can cause sleeping sickness.

[Dreamwoven]

Saw part of a TV programme on India where at the foot of the Himalayas there was a revolt by those who wanted to set up their own government. The revolt was financed by the rich wild life, including elephants, the ivory from which was the main source of the rebel income. The area is now a nature reserve and is much restored but the elephants still have not fully recovered. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurgency_in_Northeast_India

[Dreamwoven]

Coyote (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote) are North American, but recently have been seen in South America, so spreading southward. I always thought that coyote were smaller than most wolves, but if anything are at least as large, if not larger! On the website you can compare the relative sizes.

[Dreamwoven]

Wolverine hunting in Norway done from a helicopter, shooting from the air, then landing to finish it off. Very labour-intensive and no doubt expensive, but hopefully effective.The original post of this thread was about Wolverines in Sweden.

[Dreamwoven]

But I am still unsure whether wolverines are so problematic that they need to be killed whatever the cost.

[Danik 2016]

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[Dreamwoven]

I had no idea there were so many wolf-fox type animals. Quite remarkable.

[Dreamwoven]

Beavers are interesting animals. I only saw my first beaver site in Sweden, when out walking with a group of ramblers. They are fascinating animals. They build dams and Lodges (where they live and breed), cut down trees for their dam-building. If you know what to look for you will soon learn more about them. They build underwater entrances to their lodges, which protects them from enemies.

The ponds created by well-maintained dams help isolate the beavers' homes, which are called lodges. These are created from severed branches and mud. The beavers cover their lodges late each autumn with fresh mud, which freezes when frosts arrive. The mud becomes almost as hard as stone, thereby preventing wolves and wolverines from penetrating the lodge. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver#Eurasian_beaver.


Illustration of beaver lodge

Beaver lodge, approx. 20-foot (6.1 m) diameter.
The lodge has underwater entrances, which makes entry nearly impossible for any other animal, although muskrats have been seen living inside beaver lodges with the beavers who made them.[25] Only a small amount of the lodge is actually used as a living area. Beavers dig out their dens with underwater entrances after they finish building the dams and lodge structures. There are typically two dens within the lodge, one for drying off after exiting the water and another, drier one, in which the family lives.

Beaver lodges are constructed with the same materials as the dams, with little order or regularity of structure. They seldom house more than four adults and six or eight juveniles. Some larger lodges have one or more partitions, but these are only posts of the main building left by the builders to support the roof. Usually, the dens have no connection with each other except by water.

[Dreamwoven]

http://earthsky.org/earth/early-humans-wiped-out-big-animals-in-australia. A new theory, the extinct animals of Australia are indeed odd.

[Danik 2016]

I wonder how much of it is due to the scientific imagination.

[Dreamwoven]

Yes, I definitely agree with you. But they must have skeletons of large animals. It is only claimed to be a theory. I also find it a bit stretching, to claim that they became extinct by humans hunting them.

[Danik 2016]

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[Dreamwoven]

Good, Danik. This thread and the one on birds, just keep them coming.

[Danik 2016]

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[Danik 2016]

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[Dreamwoven]

You are free to do this to your threads, as I will be dropping out of this and the Canadian Goose (bird thread). All the best, Danik.

[Danik 2016]

There must be some misunderstanding, DW. I understood that you wanted me to post more bird and animal threads with texts. As my zoological knowledge is limited to my readings, I was posting animals and informations about them I thought might interest you and other LitNeters and not invading your threads. I´m taking all my recent posts out so that you will be able to dispose of the threads as you feel like.

[Dreamwoven]

Well, good luck with that, Danik.

[Grit]

As a Canadian, I see our national plague has claimed another victim. First they stole the sun, shredding it to bits with mean-spirited pecking. Next they stole our laughter, haunting our places of sanctuary and celebration with beady black eyes. Finally, they came for our mammals, claiming feathers served as 'alternative fur'.

Fear the hiss of the Canadian Geese and know they run at least as quick as an adult on a bike.

[Danik 2016]

There must be some misunderstanding, DW. I understood that you wanted me to post more bird and animal threads with texts. As my zoological knowledge is limited to my readings, I was posting animals and informations about them I thought might interest you and other LitNeters and not invading your threads. I´m taking all my recent posts out so that you will be able to dispose of the threads as you feel like.
Thanks, DW!