If they’re anything like the Wolfos in The Legend of Zelda: Orcarina of Time, some well used sword play will take em down in a jiffy. If you don’t have the Master Sword, however, you’re out of luck.
Serious answer: Tote some BEAR SPRAY.
my friend Chad’s-all-purpose-crisis-answer works too: Pass out. Hope for the best.
Yep, I sure do. I’ve used it several times to fend off boars, snakes, etc. It’s in my Blazer all the time, ready to go.
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- Wolverines will steal food from bears. I’d guess a pit bull in that fight would get taken to pieces pretty quick.
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- Wolverines will steal food from bears. I’d guess a pit bull in that fight would get taken to pieces pretty quick.
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- I have heard that Wolverines are generally very reclusive, but if you run into a momma with babies, all bets are off. What season do females deliver young?
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IMHO dont worry about the wolverines, chances are good you wont see them.
Worry about the elk, they are everywhere, big, and mean. when I was living in Banff it was very common for a tourist to think thet elk are just like deer and dont mind if you get close for a picture. Them things are pissy, and I wouldnt want to see their antlers up close and personal. It was not uncommon to hear about an elk chasing a person down main street. Now if they are that close in town limits, you can see em that close on the trails too.
Although whenever I see an elk I think of how a friend of mine watched from his front window and elk come along and eat up a string of his christmas lights off a tree in the front yard. Yes they were on at the time, and I dont want to think about how that felt on the way out. :eek:
It makes me smile, I like to think it was the same one that ate my jack-o-lanturn at halloween. 
I’ve seen a pair in the wilderness from a highly respectful distance of 400-500 yards, in New Mexico’s Pecos Wilderness (where they officially aren’t supposed to be, but others have seen them there too), running over and in and around the rocks of a mountain rockfall on the face (north? east? don’t recall) of the Truchas Peaks.
From that distance they seem like playful critters, bounding and pouncing. Looked like they had some small game cornered in the rocks and were periodically taking a leap at it or them.
Jennifer Grey - yes. Patrick Swayze - probably not.
Enough good answers from other posters to indicate to you that these are one, mean animal. Pound for pound, about the toughest, nastiest critter around. Don’t mess with 'em!
One interesting side fact: their fur is the only type that will not frost up when you breath on it, hence is popular to trim parka hoods. When I was mushing dog teams out of Fairbanks back in '46-'47, had a beautiful pair of wolverine mittens, which my daughter now has to this day. When it got really cold (-60 or so F.), just burying my face in these mitts warmed it up nicely. I always said a prayer for the souls of the guys who provided that wonderful fur.
Klondike
OK, if you say that’s what it weighs, I believe you. Just that I tried holding a 10 lb dumbell like it was a walking stick and I personally doubt that I could walk around the block carrying it like that. Might build strong muscles, but I’ll stick with my aluminum hiking stick.
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. The last time I was up in Banff for a conference, it was that time of year, and I ended up getting chased down the street for a ways by an irritated elk.
Re if you run into a wolverine that wants to hurt you: You’re fucked. Remember that these things are basically giant weasels, and they’re really strong. I knew people who raised mink, and they said that when a mink got pissed at them, it was all one of them could do to hold the thing down–and bear in mind that these were big, strapping farm boys. Picture an animal that has about the same size-to-strength ratio, but scale it up by a factor of twenty.
Another example from here:
I just weighed it. It’s about 6 pounds. It’s 6 feet 6 1/2 inches tall, about a 3" diameter at the base and about 4 1/2" diameter at 6 feet up.
Keep in mind I’m 6’ 4", 200#. I work out every day, lifting weights, running, cycling. It’s really nothing to heft this sucker all day long, even when I carry a 70 pound pack, which is my norm for back country trips. I’m frequently alone, so I have to carry all my own gear & food. I also carry a big knife and if appropriate, a machete. (If I take the machete, I don’t take the stick tho.)
I was a bit off on the weight initially, I admit. But I know what my pack weighs because I weigh myself before and after every trip. First me, then me with pack. When I’m done I weigh me with pack, then just me. Started doing it years ago to check my calorie consumption and make sure I was eating enough on the trail.
And yeah, I drill holes in everything I can.
Jennifer Grey AND Lea Thompson wrestling in the mud for the right to be my love puppet!
(I loved Red Dawn.)
I’ve always heard that if you pay them for the pizza delivery, they’ll leave you alone.
A couple of days after I had to scare that wolverine off with a shotgun blast, we came across another, this time from the vantage of our helicopter. The previous one had been dark coated and probably weighed somewhere around 60 to 70 lbs (a very uneducated guess). This one had an almost blonde coat and was decidedly bigger, probably somewher in the neighborhood of 80 lbs. Thing was the gnarly beast was trying to take down a moose calf, much to the objection of the moose’s mother. We circled for awhile and watched the drama unfold, the wolverine circling around and trying to get to the calf while the mother tried to stay between them and stomp or antler the menace, all of them seemingly oblivious to our presence. I’ll tell you what… like elk, moose are freakin’ huge and they could kill a human instantly. Any animal willing to take on a pissed off momma moose is one bad assed creature that I want absolutely nothing to do with. Thank goodness they’re not known to normally be agressive toward us human folk.
Let me clarify that… the mother would make gestures towards the wolverine with a lowered head. I don’t remember her actually having a rack, it was more that she was swiping at him with her head instead of actually trying to impale him, that and stomp and kick. I’ve often wondered what the outcome was as that wolverine seemed awfully persistent.
:dubious: Meaning that they are bigger or smaller?
My advice: never tangle with anything bigger than a squirrel unless you have a large and heavy weapon near to hand. And if it’s a black squirrel, don’t fuck with it! Those bastards are mean.
So how would a wolverine stack up against a badger?
A giant wooden badger?
Like I said earlier, I never heard of wolverines in Banff, but it seems that they are in the park. Woverines in Banff, however, they are few in numbers and well spread out. I would venture to guess that the more popular hiking area are going to be safe.