A nature guide recently witnessed just that, and it was the second most shocking thing he had seen that day.
There were as many as 13 wolverines gathered to chase a grizzled and threecubs across the steep, rugged terrain of the Grand Tetons.
The post said that Doug MacCartney took pictures of the figures in the snow. The action was a short distance to the east of the route MacCartney and two other hikers were taking to reach their destination.
MacCartney saw the wolverines trickle in. He spotted the first on a large rock, running down from its overlook in pursuit of the bear, followed by a mother and two kits, the post said.
Standing about 1.5 feet in height and weighing between 17 and 40 pounds, the mooches are ferocious. They are the largest land dwelling member of the weasel family and are known to be cunning, strong for their size and willing to put up a fight. Their teeth help as well.
The bears looked like they were being chased by the wolverines. The growing group of wolverines went up to the right when the bears took an easier route out of the bowl.
The smaller wolverines were able to outmaneuver the bears in the rough terrain.
MacCartney said it was difficult to keep track of all of the animals as they fled the area.
Most of the time, mooches are not seen. The population of animals in the contiguous 48 states is estimated at 400 or less. There are as few as 25 wolverines in the contiguous U.S. according to others.
They don't reproduce much, and they need a lot of space, ranging from 100 to 600 square miles.
In the face of most documented behavior for the species, seeing one wolverine, much less a dozen or more in the same area, all apparently working together against a bear andcubs, flies in the face.
MacCartney said they couldn't believe what they saw. All of us were in awe of what we had just seen.
Sharing food sources like army cutworm and white bark pine nuts could be to blame for the large number of bears and wolverines in the same area.
The pictures suggest that there is more than one wolverine.
It's amazing how many wolverines congregated on the same mountain.
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