Wolverine's Killing Moose

[notlikely]

I was reading a wikipeida article about the Wolverine and it says

The wolverine is, like most mustelids, remarkably strong for its size. It has been known to kill prey as large as moose, although most typically when these are weakened by winter or caught in snowbanks.

I mean a wolverine is between 50 and 90 pounds, and a female moose is generally over 800 pounds.

I find this hard to believe a wolverine could do much damage to a moose, unless the moose was totally on it's deathbed to begin with.

What do you think? Is that article off base?

[astro]

I think wolverines generally take weakened moose and calves. It's surprising what an animal can do if hungry enough. I didn't think lions would bother full grown elephants, but if they are hungry enough they will try and take one down.

[Gary T]

Originally Posted by notlikely

I mean a wolverine is between 50 and 90 pounds, and a female moose is generally over 800 pounds.

I find this hard to believe a wolverine could do much damage to a moose, unless the moose was totally on it's deathbed to begin with.

What do you think? Is that article off base?

Not from what I've read. A 50 lb. wolverine is 500+ pounds worth of mean. I have no trouble picturing one doing in a somewhat ailing moose.

[RaftPeople]

I saw a video of 2 wolverines fighting and it was pretty impressive. It doesn't surprise me that they could take down a moose.

[TWDuke]

So this isn't about the hairy guy from the X-Men taking out the big guy from Archie Comics? Carry on.

[astro]

Originally Posted by TWDuke

So this isn't about the hairy guy from the X-Men taking out the big guy from Archie Comics? Carry on.

Well Duh!

[ASAKMOTSD]

Originally Posted by TWDuke

So this isn't about the hairy guy from the X-Men taking out the big guy from Archie Comics? Carry on.

Nor is it about this variety that historically bring down Spartans and Buckeyes.

[CalMeacham]

As I've mentioned before, I once saw a film of a pack of wolves attacking a moose. It was the sorriest spectacle I've ever seen. None of this leaping pack of lean, sinewy hunters with glowi ng eyes selectively attacking its unexpecting prey and harrowing it from a hundred points. The wolves looked like a pack of suburban dogs huddling together atop a small rise over the river in which the moose was unconcernedly wading. They looked as if they'd been told that, if they brought down this one moose, they could go back to their comfortable doghouses. Every so often the huddled pack would manage to jostle one of its down down the rise and into the water, where he'd make a desperate little lunge to try and nip at the moose-s legs (and hope to eventually hamstring it, I suppose). But it wasn't a very effective lunge, and the moose angrily drove the wolf off. The wolf ran to the back of the line atop the ridge, hoping to eventually push anothere wolf off the eminence so that someone else could lunge at the Moose foot, and risk getting killed by those antlers.

I don't know why the moose stayed. If it swam to the other side of the river, or just wandered further away from the rise, the miserable wolves would have a harder time of it. After a few minutes of this the captioning explained that the wolves eventually brought the moose down. But it was kind of hard to believe. Sometimes "Nature, red in tooth and claw" is, as advertised, flashy and efficient, but I suspect an awful lot of it is dull, boring, long wear-them-down routine. Maybe, after 24 hours of this, the moose loses concentration and is sleepy, and the massed, hungry, miserable wolves have a fighting change to nip it sufficiently. If so, I suspect wolverines taking down a moose could do it , in concert, in the same way.

[lieu]

I've had two encounters with wolverines. In the first, it was observing a large, light colored wolverine circling a protective mother moose trying to get at her calf. The calf was far from newborn, I'm guessing four to five months old. We were in a helicopter above, otherwise I'd have sat transfixed for how many hours it would have taken to see the drama's resolution.

In the second, a caribou came past us, limping and constantly looking over its shoulder. Knowing something was stalking it, we loaded our guns and waited. Shortly, a dark coated wolvering came 'loping' over the tundra. Seeing us (two adults), he came over to investigate and I finally had to fire a shot over his head when he got too close. He then resumed the path the caribou had taken in a steady, deliberate pursuit.

I'm going to assume whatever they lack in size they more than make up for in fearlessness and relentless determination.

[BMalion]

My sister was bitten by a møøse once.

[Dr. Drake]

Originally Posted by astro

Well Duh!

No, really. It's that apostrophe. I, too, thought it was some sort of weapon used by the comic-book character.

[astro]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drake

No, really. It's that apostrophe. I, too, thought it was some sort of weapon used by the comic-book character.

See Moose - trademark line

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by BMalion

My sister was bitten by a møøse once.

The Management apologizes. The Døper who made this post has been sacked.

astro, watching that video of the lions attacking the baby elephant, I kept thinking "Ouch ouch ouch ouch OUCH!" If I were the elephant, I'd roll over hard a couple of times. Smoosh a few lions, they won't be quite so eager to nibble on you.

[Ludovic]

It surprises me that wolverines are allowed to own moose, let alone killing moose.

[NurseCarmen]

Well, the Wolverine's caused headaches for the Russians and Cubans when they invaded Alaska.

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by NurseCarmen

Well, the Wolverine's caused headaches for the Russians and Cubans when they invaded Alaska.

Nitpick: 'twas Colorado.

[BMalion]

"Help Rocky, I seem to be under attack from some crazed mutant!"

[Chimera]

Here I had a different read, figuring it was maybe a typo and should have read;

Wolverine's Killing Mousse.

Whether that was a desert recipe or a hair product (maybe the topic was about how he got his hair to stay that way) or both was another issue.

[MrSquishy]

I just can't imagine what the mechanism of death would be. I'm sure a wolverine's jaws couldn't do much damage to the (well-protected with muscle) throat of a moose.

Would the wolverine just scratch the shit out of the moose and wait for it to die of infection?

[CalMeacham]

I just can't imagine what the mechanism of death would be. I'm sure a wolverine's jaws couldn't do much damage to the (well-protected with muscle) throat of a moose.

Would the wolverine just scratch the shit out of the moose and wait for it to die of infection?

See my post about the wolves. It's not entirely facetious. I'll bet wolverines would have the same MO -- hamstring the Moose (hamstrings are easy to reach; throats aren't) and wait for it to expire from lack of food; or at least then, when it lays or kneels down you can can reach the throat and other parts, and it can't get away.

[puppygod]

Originally Posted by MrSquishy

I just can't imagine what the mechanism of death would be. I'm sure a wolverine's jaws couldn't do much damage to the (well-protected with muscle) throat of a moose.

Would the wolverine just scratch the shit out of the moose and wait for it to die of infection?

Bleeding. Any deep wound will cause loss of some blood. Multiply that and eventually moose will be to weak to oppose being eaten any more.

Originally Posted by Elendil's Heir

astro, watching that video of the lions attacking the baby elephant, I kept thinking "Ouch ouch ouch ouch OUCH!" If I were the elephant, I'd roll over hard a couple of times. Smoosh a few lions, they won't be quite so eager to nibble on you.

Only problem is that elephants aren't that good in rolling around. Actually when down, they have some serious trouble with getting up.

[B_A_Bay]

A healthy moose is more than a match for a pack of wolves, a sick moose would be taken down. I grew up in the country and have seen my share of wolverines, bears, moose and such, there is NO way one wolverine could kill a moose, unless it was dead to begain with.

As for the lions and elephant note a PRIDE of lions will take on an elephant, but ONE lion will NOT take on an elephant.

A wolverine is like 5% of the weight of a moose. Now you imagine a housecat at 10 pounds being able to take a sick 150 pound man. It doens't matter how tough the cat is, it's simply outweighed. Wolverines are mean but saying a wolverine can beat a moose is like those Kung Fu movies where the 90 pound guy beats up a 250 pound thug. He can get in a few licks but in the end the weight can't be overcome.

[RaftPeople]

I googled and found the following (can't vouch for the site though):

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Interspec...-vs-wolf-2.htm

"Despite its smaller size, these mustelids are often considered as the strongest animals in the world for their size; a wolverine can drag carcasses five times its body weight, and kill animals such as moose, and reindeer."

"Lets consider the wolverine, it's about the same size as the pitbull, but is much stronger; a wolverine's claws and bone can crush the bones of a moose and drive away bears, cougars, and multiple wolves from their kill."

[Gulo gulo]

I can't imagine a wolverine taking on a healthy moose but if one were weakened by other predators or on it's last legs, it shouldn't be a hard task. I've seen footage of a wolverine killing a deer & chasing off a pack of wolves. They're tough buggers.

From here:

The wolverine is capable of taking large ungulates as live prey (Myrberget 1968, Pulliainen 1968, Magoun 1985), but ungulate presence in the wolverine diet most likely results from scavenging (Hornocker and Hash 1981, Magoun 1985, Gardner 1985, Banci 1987, Copeland 1996). Ungulate use by wolverines at higher latitudes was more prevalent during months associated with migrating caribou (Rangifer tarandus) or local moose populations (Magoun 1985, Gardner 1985).

[chaoticbear]

Well, regardless of the possessive in the title, everyone knows that the plural of "moose" is "meese", of course.

[lieu]

Thank you, chaoticbear, for this all too rare

'ed meese' sighting.

[CalMeacham]

Well, regardless of the possessive in the title, everyone knows that the plural of "moose" is "meese", of course.

I Hate Meeses to Pieces!

[Jackmannii]

I thought this thread was going to be about U. of Michigan graduates running amok at the Moose lodge.

[Mangetout]

Originally Posted by Ludovic

It surprises me that wolverines are allowed to own moose, let alone killing moose.

It's more of a partnership, really. The wolverine had better intellectual property lawyers though, and so managed to wangle a deal where the killing moose was billed as a sidekick.

[Gbro]

Originally Posted by MrSquishy

I just can't imagine what the mechanism of death would be. I'm sure a wolverine's jaws couldn't do much damage to the (well-protected with muscle) throat of a moose.

Would the wolverine just scratch the shit out of the moose and wait for it to die of infection?

I don't think any large predator waits until his prey is declared dead before they begin to feed. They are just worn down to a point where they cannot/don't fight back.

I once saw a film of a pack of wolves attacking a moose.

There is a I-Max movie on the Arctic Wolf. We saw it at the MN science museum. The film showed the arctic wolves after musk ox. the film showed no ox being taken. I guess we were to assume there was nourishment in trying?
I boo'ed the show at the end as some clapped.
Back when National Geographic Magazine reported true nature, not some form of socially acceptable version that isn't to hard for some to accept, There was a similar story where a reported was watching the wolf work on a small herd of musk ox with 6 calves. At the end of the story all six calves were taken by the arctic wolves.
Nature is brutal, Why would anyone want to sugar coat nature?

Then there was a wolf display at the local gander mountain store. 3 wolves and a small deer, There wasn't a hair out of place on that little deer, and the wolves were displayed to look like the neighbors pet dog that just might lick you to death. I asked about this and a store employee said there is a federal regulation prohibiting aggressive mounts of protected species. I do not know if that is true?
But the display should have at least put a tire tread mark over the deer if it wasn't suppose to depict a wolf kill.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by notlikely

I was reading a wikipeida article about the Wolverine and it says

The wolverine is, like most mustelids, remarkably strong for its size. It has been known to kill prey as large as moose, although most typically when these are weakened by winter or caught in snowbanks.

I mean a wolverine is between 50 and 90 pounds, and a female moose is generally over 800 pounds.

I find this hard to believe a wolverine could do much damage to a moose, unless the moose was totally on it's deathbed to begin with.

What do you think? Is that article off base?

The statement in the article is uncited, so we can't know if it's true or not. And given the qualification about "weakened by winter or caught in snowbanks", I'd say that's a meaningless claim. A housecat could take a moose that was sufficiently "weakened by winter or caught in snowbanks".

[BMalion]

Originally Posted by John Mace

The statement in the article is uncited, so we can't know if it's true or not. And given the qualification about "weakened by winter or caught in snowbanks", I'd say that's a meaningless claim. A housecat could take a moose that was sufficiently "weakened by winter or caught in snowbanks".

Unless the moose had a machine gun, and a flamethrower.