Rare footage of wolverine seen attempting a kill over 4th of July weekend 2017 near Ajax Mountain in Montana. Less than 250 of these roam in the lower 48. For licensing or use, contact licensing@viralhog.com .
Whitney, this was a very clear video of a wolverine, that showed one for several minutes. 99.9% of lifelong residents in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Colorado will never get to see even a glimpse of a wolverine because they are so rare, and you got one on video. I don't think that many of the commentors know, appreciate, or understand how lucky it was to get this video. There is no other video at all whatsoever of a wolverine in these six states.
Agreed. We use to have a wolverine that would hang out under a building at the little ski place in. My home town. That was before video cameras were in every person's pockets. He wasn't shy either. Ppl would show up. Hed pop out. Check you out then head into the wild. I'm sure hed eventually come back to that spot cuz I'd seen him at least 4x . That was during winter. The skii place wasnt open all that much. ..it still barely opens. He would be long gone by summer though.
Wolverines are crazy fast and athletic. That’s a real treat to see in the wild. I live here in Montana and have spent a lot of nights in the backcountry. I’ve only seen a wolverine one time in the wild. Thanks for the video.
Yeah it's unreal. I had honey badgers ranked as toughest animal pound for pound until I saw a video of a wolverine taking on a full grown bull moose, and not backing down an inch!!
@@smh95826 You really need to adopt a psuedonym; Sam! I've seen your comments before: Always the ignorant puke vomiting his ignorant opinions. Plenty of fools on these threads; only in disguise. But SAM is 'out there' for all to read his idiocy‼️
@@sharkchaparral4439 Well in this case, he isn't wrong. During the whole video all I could think about was this might be the worst camera work I've ever seen in a youtube posted video.
@@TheGolferguy71 As rare as it is to see someone's comments appear that I have seen before.(because there must be millions giving their comments on RU-vid!) Sam and I have crossed paths before. He really is THAT annoying! My 'Spidey' sences spiked when I saw his name‼️
Never saw a wolverine with summer fur coat, thanks for sharing this. Amazing how long their legs are, it almost looked like a wolf running. They are incredibly fast and agile what an interesting and majestic animal.
I watched one for 20 minutes, 30 years ago in the mountains of Alberta when I was hunting bighorn sheep. I was in a big alpine bowl above the tree line and he was digging up a marmot den and when he finally spotted me he was not very happy and took off down to the tree line. I have hunted the mountains for going on 40 years and this is my only live spotting of a wolverine. I have seen a few that have been trapped. The wolverine in the above video was a good mature animal and I am amazed how fast he could swim. Great vid
@@robwalsh9843 yea man. If they wanna eat it they’re going to eat it. Imagine if they were the size of a grizzly 😅 there’s your nightmare fuel for the day lol
Wow, what a cool experience! I spent about a decade working as a wildlife biologist in Alaska, and one of my most vivid memories was an encounter with a wolverine. As soon as it saw us, it ran up a mountainside and disappeared. But this video is amazing.
The wolverine (järv) is native to Scandinavia as well. We have wolverines in our local zoo. Even there they're difficult to see. They're mostly either in the den or curled up behind a rock or tree stump etc.
@@iowabuckinrut760 Resolution has nothing to do with that. He was just not thinking it straight as he was pointing the camera all over and for no good reason.
That thar wolverine be less mean than a sow bear coming to rescue her three cubs chased up a tree. Y'all remember how the legendary song do : Born on a mountain top 'a Tennessee , Greatest state in the land of the free Killed him a bar when he was only three Killed him an Injun when he just be seven Killed him a wolverine when he be thirteen. Davey , Davey Crockett , king of the wild frontier !!
On the land when it chases prey, it can run up to 30mph. Amazing! I saw a video how a lone wolverine chased away a wolf pack and a cougar then took they prey. This little fella is a badass and fearless animal for the size.
Awesome video! Ive spent a large portion of my life hunting, fishing, and backpacking in the remote mountains of Montana and the western united states and have seen some crazy things but never a wolverine! and the fact that you guys got to see him actively hunting is the icing on the cake! People who spend there whole lives researching the Wolverine don't get to witness what you got see. So cherish this once in a lifetime experience cause there is a good chance you will never see this again. Now Ive seen wolverine tracks on my property which is in the Bitterroot Mountains in western Montana. I have a few game cameras out but have never been able to catch one on video. If I were to bait the game camera in the winter with meat I'm pretty confident eventually one would show up. There population is starting to really bounce back and i think your going to begin to see more and more sightings of them as this amazing animal continues to make a come back in the still vast and remote high country of the western united states. Recently the forest service here in Montana captured a whole family on camera in the bitterroot mountains. I believe they were baiting a game camera with some road kill to get a count on the local Mountain lion population and the wolverines showed up instead! Another wolverine was filmed by someone in Lolo national forrest, they got within 20 feet of the wolverine and it didn't seem to be to shy. Also one has been showing up on game cameras for years in the Sierra Nevada mounatins around the lake tahoe area. The forest service says based on collecting his fur samples they believe he traveled all the to California from the Sawtooth mountains in Idaho! I have family who live in the Sierras and weather permitting on a sunny day that's a long 15 hour drive by vehicle from the Sawtooths to the Sierras making it nothing short of amazing that this wolverine was able to make the trek on foot! There saying hes alone but i doubt he traveled that far and hung around for almost 10 years without having a breeding female getting his attention. All these amazing encounters can be found on youtube as well but your footage takes the prize for being able to see its relentless natural predatory behavior without any human influence. There are many amazing stories from native americans, hunters, trappers, and explorers about the pure power and the raw strength and ferocity of the wolverine sometimes leading me to wonder how much of it was truth and how much of it was just fictional story telling. Well what i saw in your video was a legendary animal of the American west more then living up to the stories from the past showing us once again that the old timers even though they lacked smart phones and cameras, were pretty good at documenting what they saw and experienced in there time living side by side with this amazing animal. Thank you for sharing this one of kind video
Difficult to believe that’s a mustelid 0:47 (weasel family, Mustelidae) and not a dog or a bear. The run is the real giveaway as it resembles the hopping gallop of a ferret, just scaled up from 2lbs to 50lbs.
That wolverine was BIG. I'm surprised how fast it swam also. When I saw the larger deer in the snow, I was worried about it because wolverines have the advantage in snow because of their huge paws work like snowshoes. Wolverines also have unlimited stamina so it likely got what it was after eventually. They do not quit.
Lmao you sound dumb, in the video they clearly showed the mother deer chase off the wolverine, it was trying to get the baby deer that swam away and the momma deer chased the wolverine up the mountain. Pay attention to the video and stop spreading Bs myths.
2:48 "So a mother deer will take out a wolverine?" "Not always." I'd say "Not never." I think the mother deer's instinct is to distract the wolverine's attention from her fawn. She can outrun a wolverine if it comes to a running race.
Exactly! And that only if she can get away. There is another vid out there somewhere of a wolverine very nearly taking down a fully grown reindeer. If I recall correctly, it was in Finland.
A mother deer is quite capable of injuring a wolverine. Just because wolverines can hunt large prey doesn't mean that they are not susceptible to injury, especially given their size.
@@rangefinderz5135 Of course she is going to try to distract the wolverine so she doesn't get within attacking distance. Wolverines are powerful enough to prey on deer, caribou, and even moose, but she has a better chance of fending it off than her fawn does. I've seen a doe in a Yellowstone documentary drive off a pair of coyotes that were hunting it by lashing out with its front legs. Mustelids are not as relentless as their reputation. During summer, food is plentiful and the wolverine is only interested in easy prey.
Keep in mind also that wolverines mainly hunt large mammals in deep snow. Deep snow makes long-legged deer and moose clumsy and brings their necks closer to the wolverine's level, as wolverines don't sink as deep into the snow. Also, don't trust Wikipedia, which says wolverines "prey" on bison. Hunting a lanky moose is not the same as taking down a 1-ton bison that can gore an adult bear. Wikipedia also seems to say that red foxes casually prey on adult raccoons.
Actually it's rare for wolverines to hunt they do prefer carion. As for the mother deer it will fight the wolverine to try and save it's baby it might not win but it will defend as any mother. Yes I know wolverines are fierce and capable of taking down a deer but it wouldn't be easy
Ronald Ryan The mother deer might not win? Against a wolverine? Are you kidding me? A wolverine will slaughter a deer 100% of the time. They win against wolves too and even bears back down and will run away from a wolverine. Other wild animals know to stay clear of wolverines or suffer the consequences!
@@haileymatthews1777 I'm well aware of what a wolverine can do and i've been around mother and baby deer. I've seen what they can do they'll start kicking hard and fast. I know wolverines are very strong but they will back off after being kicked a half a dozen times. As for how they fight bears and can win while that is true. Keep in mind bears they rather run from a fight then risk getting any injury and its one simple swipe from a bear and thats it for any animal.
just watched this on EarthTouch News network..fantastic rare capture you got there...a unique experience for all of you ...thanks for posting for the rest of us!
Wolverine would’ve chased the baby hadnt ye being there. The wolverine can take down moose for crying out loud, the mom deer is not a match, she was simply distracting the wolverine because she can outrun him.
J.L. Frost I don't know about moose, but I've seen them take down healthy adult bucks, and caribou, so I don't doubt they COULD...i just doubt they would unless it was young or injured. The weasel family us amazing. There known for taking down prey ten times their size easily. Tenacious, quick, all they have to do is tear into it and bounce a few times and let it weaken. But even for this fantastic animal, I think a moose is pushing it. A smaller Elk May be a possibility though, but still not the likely prey. They typically stick more to deer and caribou. Caribou can weigh over 500 pounds, while wolverines average 45-50. Taking down caribou is not uncommon for them at all.
@@JLFrost Wolverines can kill an adult moose...however, only after the moose is heavily bogged down in a snowbank/or mud, and exhausted form trying to escape. There has been documentation on this...but it's such a rare occurrence, it seems unreal. Look at what happens in Africa, when an elephant/rhino, or another huge animal, is stuck in mud.
@@nickdouglas736 Simple replies, i.e.: they can, or they can't, cover little. How do you know they can't, or that they can? Of course a wolverine can kill a moose; and they can take-down a moose...just not a healthy, unobstructed, adult specimen. There is footage on RU-vid of a wolverine attached to the throat of an adult deer, which it eventually killed. Once imbedded, those jaws lock, much like a pit. I'd certainly say that a wolverine killing a healthy adult moose in unlikely...though I would not be so arrogant as to say "can't". This is one crazy beast, and if it's teeth are clamped around your windpipe, I'd say that eventually, you are going to drop. Though it's not likely a moose would allow a wolverine to get close enough to try. Not likely...but surely possible!
So glad you caught this in action, very exciting. Got to see wolverine strategy and mama deer strategy. Glad she won. What amazes me is how mama would’ve communicated to the baby to start swimming.
Wow! Very neat to see! That wolverine was faster both swimming and running than I thought they were! We live on the Idaho side, not far from Ajax mountain.
This video was amazing 🤗 I live in Ireland 🇮🇪 And thank God we don't have these roaming around, wow that guy could swim. Hey thanks for posting this rare gem. Best footage I've ever seen of a Wolverine. Thanks ♥️🙏🇮🇪
If that's the lake below Ajax, I've been there, actually walk-in skiing in July. What an awesome place, and great video. You are one lucky person to see a wolverine, let alone film it as good as you did. I was east of there several years ago in the Pioneer's and nearly stepped on a Fisher, another one that is seldom seen in person.
I am 72 now. It has been a long time since I have seen a Woulverine in the wild. The last time I was outside of Tipton Wyoming. I was on top of a rubber tired heavy equipment. The Woulverine attacked the left tire and made some very scary slashes on the tire. The tires were 46 inch tires. Later that day I showed the game warden. Who was equally impressed. I thanked God I was on top of the heavy equipment. Pound for pound the Wolverine is the most dangerous animal in North America.
Probably, the best video of a wild wolverine, ever. I live and hike in southern Montana, and have seen a wolverine, during the summer, each of the last four years.
I'm surprised no one is talking about that wolverine's whole white leg?? That in itself is rare. The most white wolverines tend to have in their coats is on their chests, no where else and even then it's typically flecks but some can have streaks of it from their neck to their lower chest. Then they may have a lighter cream brown (never white) color to the stripe they have going from the side of their head down to their side down to their tail. As well as Wolverine legs are deep almost black brown color. That white leg could be a coloration mutation or a birthmark of some kind. I have never seen that. Wow!
Wolverines are amazing. They can traverse just about any terrain and maintain a fairly constant speed. And no way that a deer can beat a wolverine, a wolverine will go up against full sized kodiak grizzly bears if food is on the line. With it being what looks like spring the wolverine is probably just not hungry enough to pursue a tough meal.
Amazing video of this Wolverine. To catch sight of one and get it on film is special. This Doe Mule Deer was very protective over her Fawn. Getting between her Fawn and the Wolverine The Fawn though was smart to swim away thus masking it's scent from the Wolverine. Both showed their prowess in the water. 💪🏼🙏🏻✨
They are North American Honey Badgers basically. They're both in the Mustelidae family which consists of carnivorous mammals like this. Even ferrets, otters, and weasels are related.
Actually Mustelidae just only includes the weasels, ferrets, and minks, whilst all other species traditionally included within this family are now treated as four separate families: the skunks and stink badgers are now classified together into the family Mephitidae, all five extant genera and fifteen extant species of badgers are classified together into the family Melidae, the zorillas, african striped weasel, marbled polecat, patagonian weasel, grisons, wolverine, tayra, martens, and fisher are classified together into the family Ictonychidae, and otters are reranked as the family Lutridae, while the latter three are grouped with Mustelidae into the great superfamily Musteloidea, Mephitidae evolved independently and is more closely related to the raccoons, ringtail, cacomistle, coatis, olingos, olinguito, kinkajou, and red panda, therefore Mephitidae actually belongs to Procyonoidea.
Interesting video. Its incredible how fast a wolverine swims! Wolverines take down full grown reindeer regularly,&even large moose both of which are way larger animals than any other deer are plus the reindeer have huge antlers. A mother white tail or mule deer has absolutely no chance whatsoever against an adult wolverine except to possibly outrun the wolverine to get away. Wolverine take down 600-800lbs.animals often and have been witnessed fighting Grizzly Bears and chasing them off their kills. Pound for pound the Wolverine is one of the strongest,most ferocious,&most formidable animals on the planet.They are closely related to the Honey Badgers of Africa and have similar temperaments,though Wolverines are more intelligent and a little more sociable with their own kind than the Honey Badgers are known to be. On rare occasions when raised from a young age,Wolverines will sometimes befriend a human to a degree,but can never be fully tamed.
MAGGOT VOMIT. I guess that's possible,but they seem more intereseted in just gtng what they want more than having their mind set on any certain object. I guess there are always more than one way of looking at or considering things. To me,Wolverines just have their mind set on something and they're willing more often than not to fight for their prize. I guess there is always more than one way of looking&thinking about things however.
Actually the wolverine's closest living relative is the tayra, whilst the honey badger is not such a close relative, the wolverine and honey badger actually belong to distinct families within the superfamily Musteloidea, honey badgers are in the subfamily Mellivorinae within the family Melidae, therefore honey badgers are badgers, whilst the wolverine and tayra are in the tribe Gulonini which is grouped with the tribe Martini (Martens and Fisher) into the subfamily Guloninae of the family Ictonychidae, which also includes the zorillas, african striped weasel, marbled polecat, patagonian weasel, and grisons, wolverines and honey badgers only share similarities due to convergent evolution, not because they share a common ancestor.
WOW is all I can say!!! Amazing footage of a wolverine and I am impressed bcuz it's so rare to get footage of this beautiful animal. I'm so excited to see this. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for posting this. Just a friendly tip: Make less use of the extreme zoom. You're losing your subject in the frame and then searching to find it again. It's a common mistake. Less Zoom. More steady.
That's the difference between an amateur and a pro. That's why the next time someone tells you that he is a professional cameraman, don't think "Yeah, big deal".
Wolverines have been known to take down a polar bear. No way in hell a mother deer would ever take down a wolverine. When I heard that comment, I was like these people have no clue WTF they're talking about.
You were very lucky to get to observe all that you did! That was a good sized wolverine. Were you able to see if the doe and fawn reunited? Thanks for sharing this!!!
Robert Phillips we feel very fortunate to have witnessed this! The fawn made it back to the other side of the lake and bedded down...he was exhausted. We saw the doe heading back to reunite with him as we left the lake.
You don't need to move the camera all around so you can look around. Just stop looking thru the lense. Hold the camera in one place as you look around with both of yer eyes. Good grief
Yes and then just turn the sound off and maybe play music...it wasnt the movement although it was a right raveling it was all the talking. I realize it was exciting thoufh.
Some of you can whine all you want. Meanwhile, you have no idea that the average person in the USA can go an entire LIFETIME without seeing a wolverine in the wild even once. In other words: this is incredible video.
Interesting to see the very distinct running and hopping movements, which are very similar to its smaller cousins, the stoat and weasel - just on a much larger scale.
"It is said" is, in my experience, a pretty reliable red flag for baseless hearsay and all-around bullshit. These guys are far more endurance/pursuit hunters than stealthy pouncers and, of course, don't exactly hunt people anyway. Some big cats OTOH develop the habit - now THOSE you tend not see coming before it's too late, if even then (as by all accounts the man-eaters prefer to come from behind)...
Rest assured you're not going to do any better on dry land. Upside, these things have no interest in people beyond the usual basic curiosity so moot point.
@@broadbandislife A wolverine will not attack a human because a human can kill a wolverine. A human outweighs the wolverine 3 to 1 and is far more nimble and cognitively equipped to fight than prey animal like deer. A human can stand up and gain a massive height advantage, and can grapple. A human can pick up the wolverine and then slam into the ground, then straddle it, and land blows to its head until it's unconcious. A wolverine is not made up of adamantium. Blunt force trauma to its head WILL knock it unconscious, and enough of it will cause it brain damage and death. It doesn't have enough muscle mass in its neck, or a thick enough skull, to be able to withstand repeated blows to the head from an adult human. Wolverines are ferocious, with powerful bodies capable of executing rapid jerking motions that can take chunks out of an animal that it has its jaws locked onto, so a fight with one could result in the human suffering grievous injuries, but that doesn't mean the wolverine would make it out okay, and as with any other animal, a wolverine will not enter a fight when it knows that there is a good chance it will lead to its own demise.
@@AminCad Wolverines have been known to try fighting bears - with poor results but anyway - which are Hell of a lot bigger and more intimidating than humans. Mustelids in general have a tendency to disregard bad odds, seems to be a deterrence thing (ie. it makes other critters more wary of them). Also a reminder that other carnivores in the same size class - various canids, felids etc. - are capable of mauling or killing people just fine. Your theorycrafting is pretty irrelevant because most people are NOT at all physically or mentally prepared to fight off a serious attack from such animals.
@@broadbandislife I think mustelids only fight much larger non-herbivore animals when they are trying push them off a kill or when that animal is trying to prey on them. I don't know of a case where they actively hunt one. And which 40 lb animal is known to be able to kill humans?
@@AminCad Where the Hell did you get hunting from. And pitbull breeds don't normally reach even twenty kilos and are comically over-represented in fatal dog attack statistics in the US alone: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_States So, yeah. Don't get into tussles with animals kitted out to kill prey as large as you are or even bigger. Wolverines can and do kill prey as large as _elk._
This is fantastic footage, the general public so incredibly dumb nowadays. This was filmed across a lake probably on a cellphone, and y’all are complaining its a bit shaky? Come on.
I saw a wolverine in 2009, I had gone on a hike by myself and it was following me, as I could hear it but only saw it as I got close to my car on my way back. It was scary stuff.
I can’t believe how fast he’s swimming. Wolverines are the toughest pound for pound animals on the planet. It’s amazing how a 30-45lbs Wolverine can kill bears .
Quality makes it a little hard to watch since I'm spoiled by Planet Earth etc... but that was really cool! Wolverines are extremely rare, to get to see one is a treat...and in such drama. I thought the wolverine would take out the deer. Interesting.
amazing video! Pure nature. People crying at the quality are laughable. This will be the closest they ever get. Ive seen one and very highly doubt i ever will again and i spend a lot of time in the woods
there is a you tube video of a wolverine taking out a buck. have a look and enjoy! to be honest I was kind of surprised myself but ..there it was! haha
here have a link, for no other reason than to prove you wrong since you couldnt take 5 seconds to search it ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3SOjmJG73UI.html
also as another side note just to spite you, a wolverine killed a polar bear once in a Zoo in front of tons of people, he actually choked the bear to death
It ran away bleeding and was later confirmed dead, due to it muscles in the leg being torn by wolverine. This is a common tactic used by wolverines. Also: In terms of behavior, the wolverine is fearless. It has been recorded killing a polar bear by latching onto the throat with its jaws and suffocating the animal. Its primary means of killing is suffocation by biting the throat and not letting go. You can read articles about it online. :) Also you calling someone a moron, when you can google properly is really ironic. :)
hahahaha seriously man!? If you are going to take the stance of "all of this "recorded" bullshit..." is fake then why are you here...? you are just another one of those people that want to be right no matter what the truth is; some people on here are giving some actual information or at the very least some direction and you just fall back on "no one proofed it!!!!" if anything this should promote some sort of thought and you can easily check out the information with researchers as well fish and wildlife officers. Seen as how that is the case the only conclusion one can draw is you are just a bored troll, your response to this is going to tell all. 1) you come back at me with nothing but ridiculous insults and condescending remarks which totally means you are a bored troll or 2) you take a step back and take some responsibility for your own information as opposed regurgitating stuff you hear on TV and actually do some research yourself which will mean you are actually a decent human being. I eagerly await your reply! are you a bored troll or are you a human being that really wants to know the truth of the matter?
