The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-16
THE FIERCE CARCAJoU.
An ANIMAL WITH AN INCARNATE
APPETITE.


Many Traps, Camps and Caches.
hattie between n Wolverine and a
Lynx Over a Deer Carcass.
From the New York Sun.
Who ever saw a wolverine alive in the
woods? is a question as seldom answered
satisfactorily in hunters camps as the
much-mooted problem: What becomes Of
the cast-off horns of the moose and deer?
The mischief the wolverine does. and the
execration in which-he is held by hunters
and trappers, whose traps. camps and
caches he robs and tears to pieces, are far
out of proportion to the frequency with
which he is seen at large. BY all accounts
the wolverine, carcajou, or glutton, as he
is variously called, is, taken all round, the
craftiest, fiercest, strongest greediest,
most suspicious, and most mischievous
beast of his inches and weight that the
American wilderness contains.
His father is the devil and his mother
is bear" said the French voyagers, who
held him in supersdtious dread.
In appearance the wolverine is stock
iy built animal from two to three feet in
length, exclusive of a tail about eight inch
es long. and in general appearance he
much resembles the bear. He is low in
stature with an arched back and broad
head. His hair is long with thick fur
beneath and in color he is brownish black,
with a black muzzle, and jet black feet,
tipped with strong curving claws, white
as ivory. In the way of animal food he
is omniverous, devouring anything he can
get hold Of from birds eggs up to the
ssNl- 81 nj LII cd on
wounded into helplessness. Unlike most
of the weasel family, of which
he is member, he is slow
Of movement and comparatively
defective of vision. Possessing
great strength els formidable fighter,
and rather than undertake to hunt prey
for himself, he prefers by main force or
by his superior cunning to deprive other
animals of the booty they have secured.
His halcyon days are when he can find
a line of fur-hunters' traps, which often
extend over distance Of thirty or forty
miles. These he visits with unfaillng reg
ularity, some time in advance of the law
full owners rounds, stealing the bats
without springing the traps upon himself,
and devouring on the spot or bearing
away any mink, fisher or sable that he
finds in them and hiding the bodies where
they cannot be found. If he finds a deer
killed and hung upon a tree to keep it
the thongs that holds it, letting it drop
TO the ground, eats his fill, then, unable
TO drag away and hide the carcass,
leaves Il at the disposal of such other car
nNorous animals as may be attracted to
the feast. When compelled to hunt liv-
ing animals for himself he seeks the
cubs in dens of other animals, and the
female fox, whom he digs from her bur
row in the breeding season and devours,
is a particular object of his attention
In the vast northwestern wilderness of
Alaska and British America, amid the
dense growth of high evergreen trees that
shut the winter sky from the frozen earth,
the wolverine is sometimes found prowl-
ing for prey. Somber, saturnine, and sus-
picious, he makes his stealthy way
through the forest shadows, his little
sharp, shirt-sighted eyes keenly on the
lookout his black muzzle pointing and
turning to the left and right, snuffing
for food as he plants his large, semi
plantigrade paws in the snow, leaving
tracks that might readily be mistaken
for those of young bear. No dainty
feeder he, but an incarnate hunger, out
for all he can get, and prepared to take
in detail all things he can find to kill
aevour. or destroy
II anything appears that excites his
suspicion or which for any reason he
distance, he exercises the curious habit
mentioned by Frederick Schwatka and
other northern explorers, ana sitting up
right on his headquarters shades his eyes
with one paw during his deliberate lnspec-
ton. The forest creatures of his kin,f the
ermine, sable, and fisher, give him wide
berth The fox found by him at dinner
beats a hasty retreat, bearing with him
the remains of his meal, bird, or rabbit,
as he unravels distance between himself
and his ominous visitor in long, graceful
leaps. If the carcass at which he has
away, the fox reluctantly gives place to
the wolverine andslurks about waiting for
him to satisfy his long wnded appetite
and depart. If impelled by the cravings
of hunger he ventures to APPROACH the COW
eted repast, a menacing groWl from the
heavy animal fiercely tearing away at
II and a glance from his fiery eyes sends
him skipping away to safe distance.
With the wolf, the lynx and the wildcat
the wolverine must wage battle for his
booty. He does not hesitate to attack any
one of these animals, fighting fiercely and
silently, or with low kissing growl, and
settling down to work with deadly per-
slstency that usually proves too much
Tor the feline creatures, which are lucky
If they can end the contest by retreat.
With the wolf, a strong and wary fighter
himself, superiority in weight counts,
and the issue of a tight is apt to depend
on the size and courage Of the particular
WOlL encountered.
Up the Yukon river two autumns ago"
said Tarb Tanderwood, a prospector, hunt
er and trapper, Il was out one morning
after light snowfall looking to my traps,
When I saw the tracks of a wounded deer,
and presently they were Joined by those
OF lynx which had found and was follow
Ing them. I kept on the trail of the two
10 see what there was in IL for me- 1
hadn't gone more than a mile before 1
heard the sound of crashing and plung-
ing in the underground and saw snow fly
ing ahead where the animals were strug-
ghng. The lynx had come up with the
deer where it had lain down and had
fastened to its throat. The struggle was a
snort one, for when ] got to where l could
get full view the deer was already dead
ana the lynx was sucking its boold. ! was
trying to get nearer so as TO get fair
shot at the lynx when l saw coming
through the wood from another direc-
non chunky dark animal that l at first
look TO be a small bear, but l quickly saw
IL was wolverine. He asn't looking at
anything but the deer, 80 ! let him come
on and waited TO see what would happen.
The lynx was so busy at the throat OF
the deer that he dint see the wolverine
until IL had uof almost uuon him Then