# You run head long into a Wolverine. What do you do? Could you take him/her? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-run-head-long-into-a-wolverine-what-do-you-do-could-you-take-him-her/318467 "2005-08-24T18:46:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-run-head-long-into-a-wolverine-what-do-you-do-could-you-take-him-her/318467/41 "2005-08-25T14:26:01Z")
> [@picker](#): > > So how would a wolverine stack up against a badger? It would have it for dinner with mushrooms. Seriously, a badger dines on earthworms, wasps, and small mammals. A wolverine dines on moose cubs. The badger might put up a good fight with its formidable digging claws, but it’s just outclassed by the wolverine. ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-run-head-long-into-a-wolverine-what-do-you-do-could-you-take-him-her/318467/42 "2005-08-25T19:22:31Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > The badger might put up a good fight with its formidable digging claws, but it’s just outclassed by the wolverine. Well maybe a wolverine would take a badger, but what about a kangaroo? They are very mean spirited and surprisingly strong. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-run-head-long-into-a-wolverine-what-do-you-do-could-you-take-him-her/318467/43 "2005-08-25T19:40:33Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > It would have it for dinner with mushrooms. > > Seriously, a badger dines on earthworms, wasps, and small mammals. A wolverine dines on moose cubs. The badger might put up a good fight with its formidable digging claws, but it’s just outclassed by the wolverine. But don’t let that fool you into walking up to one and petting it. Badgers are probably more common around here than wolverines (I’ve seen one right here in Calgary), but probably just as bad-tempered. You don’t mess with them, either. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-run-head-long-into-a-wolverine-what-do-you-do-could-you-take-him-her/318467/44 "2005-08-25T19:41:39Z")
> [@picker](#): > > So how would a wolverine stack up against a badger? Not even close. A wolverine is two to three times the size of a badger. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-run-head-long-into-a-wolverine-what-do-you-do-could-you-take-him-her/318467/45 "2005-08-25T19:54:17Z")
> [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > I’ll second the comment that you should be concerned about the elk. I believe their mating season is in the fall, which makes them more aggressive. I’ve been treed by an elk. I’ll add another vote there. And moose are extremely dangerous–one killed a man near here in 1999. Moose even kill wolves. > [@Hunter Hawk](#): > > Re if you run into a wolverine that wants to hurt you: You’re fucked. I talked last month with a writer that’s working on a book about wolverines. He said that they aren’t nearly as nasty and mean-tempered as people make them out to be. On the other hand, if you piss one off, you’re in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-run-head-long-into-a-wolverine-what-do-you-do-could-you-take-him-her/318467/46 "2005-08-25T19:56:56Z")
> [@faldureon](#): > > Well maybe a wolverine would take a badger, but what about a kangaroo? They are very mean spirited and surprisingly strong. Well, I don’t mean to become the handicapper here, but you’re pitting a medium-sized herbivore against a notoriously ferocious carnivore. Sure, maybe the kangaroo could get in a lucky kick but its main defense is to run away. Check [this article.](http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/17/1079199284565.html?oneclick=true). A woman got pushed to the ground by a roo multiple times and got away with puncture wounds and scratches. Replace the roo with a wolverine and all they would have found was some scat with jewelry in it. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-run-head-long-into-a-wolverine-what-do-you-do-could-you-take-him-her/318467/47 "2005-08-25T20:41:56Z")
[Here’s](http://bss.sfsu.edu/geog/bholzman/courses/Fall00Projects/wolverine.html) an excellent read on wolverines covering a number of details. It says the males can get up to 45 lbs but I’d be real surprised if older, well fed males don’t push on past that. It is hard to tell though because, kinda like the Musk Ox, with that much coarse hair it’s difficult to define what’s body mass and what’s insulation. > [@](#): > > Jeff Copeland, a Forest Service biologist, says, “It’s just never ceased to amaze me how far these animals go in a short period of time. The hallmark of the wolverine is probably its insatiable need to be on the move” (Stuebner 1997). Movement of wolverines does not appear to be affected by the presence of rivers, reservoirs, valleys, or major mountain ranges (Hornocker and Hash 1981). So true. The tundra where I saw the first one was gently rolling with several hundred feet of relief between hilltops about a mile apart. After firing the warning shot we watched as he loped as if on a rocking horse through the valley and up and over the next hill. His gait seemed effortless, speed remained consistent and far too quickly was past the hill and out of sight, this in clumping tussock grass that we had great difficulty in walkin on. Apparently, their endurance is just beyond compare. > [@](#): > > Gulo gulo has been observed hunting and killing full-sized caribou and deer (Burkholder 1962). Alaskan wolverines feed on whale, walrus, and seal carcasses. No wonder whales migrate. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-run-head-long-into-a-wolverine-what-do-you-do-could-you-take-him-her/318467/48 "2005-08-25T20:58:08Z")
**Lieu** - that was a great read. Is it just me or does anyone else wish they could see footage of a large wolverine taking down a caribou??? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-run-head-long-into-a-wolverine-what-do-you-do-could-you-take-him-her/318467/49 "2005-08-25T22:21:08Z")
> [@](#): > > It would have it for dinner with mushrooms. OK, but what about a snake! A snake! It’s a snake? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2005, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-run-head-long-into-a-wolverine-what-do-you-do-could-you-take-him-her/318467/50 "2005-08-28T13:03:53Z")
I’ll just say this - be more worried about the grizzlies. [A recent attack](http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2005/08/28/1191363-sun.html). Bear attacks in western Canada in [the last two years](http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2005/08/28/1191362-sun.html). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-run-head-long-into-a-wolverine-what-do-you-do-could-you-take-him-her/318467.md?page=2)