Michigan's lone wild wolverine found dead

March 15. 2010 6:42PM
Karen Bouffard / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

Michigan's only known wild wolverine was found dead in a Sanilac County bog Saturday, according to state Department of Natural Resources and Environment officials.

The female wolverine, which was found in the Minden City State Game Area where it was discovered six years ago, is believed to have died of natural causes, spokeswoman Mary Dettloff said.

The brown furry mammal was spotted alive in late January by Deckerville High School teacher Jeff Ford, who was retrieving photos from a trail camera he'd mounted in the game area hoping for just such a shot.


"She came within 20 yards and circled around me," Ford said of the 28-pound creature. "Her claws were about an inch long and attached to a foot that's about the same size as a human hand.

"I was trying to stay still and be quiet but I was having a hard time because I was breathing heavily and shaking. When she got downwind of me she stopped ... and I got out of there as quick as I could."

It's been centuries since wolverines last made their home in the state, and DNR officials suspect this one may have been imported and released into the wild.

"The last one in Michigan in the wild was probably 200 years ago," Dettloff said. "We've long suspected that someone probably released it here. They do have them in Canada."

The animal's body was discovered by hikers. A necropsy will be performed at a DNRE lab at Michigan State University to confirm the cause of death, Dettloff said. The department plans to preserve the body for display at the Bay City State Game Area.

While Michigan's unofficial nickname is the "Wolverine State," historians aren't sure whether the animal ever inhabited Michigan.

According to the DNR's Web site, evidence shows if wolverines ever lived in Michigan, they would have been rare. The department offers theories for how the name was coined.

Some historians believe Ohioans came up with it as an insult around 1835. Apparently they believed Michiganians were as vicious and bloodthirsty as wolverines.

Another theory is the nickname was bestowed by Native Americans during the 1830s, for equally unpleasant reasons. According to that story, native tribesmen likened settlers' seizure of their lands to the gluttony of wolverines devouring their prey.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100315/METRO/3150409/1361/Michigan-s-lone-wild-wolverine-found-dead#ixzz0ipZI6xZy
(Submitted by Chad Arment)