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$Unique_ID{QAD00038}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Wolverene, Glutton}
$Subject{Wolverene, Glutton; Gulo; Luscus}
$Journal{Quadrupeds of North America: Volume I}
$Volume{Vol. 1:202-213}
$Genus{Gulo}
$Species{Luscus}
$Common_Name{Wolverene, Glutton}
$Log{
Plate XXVI*00038P1.scf
Genus*00037.txt}
Portions copyright (c) Creative Multimedia Corp., 1990-91, 1992
A U D U B O N ' S M A M M A L S
By John James Audubon, F. R. S., &c. &c.
AND
The Rev. John Bachman, D. D., &c. &c.
-------------------------------------------
VOL. I.
--------------------------------
GULO LUSCUS.--LINN.
[Gulo gulo]
THE WOLVERINE, or GLUTTON.
PLATE XXVI.
G. subniger; fascia subalbida utrinque a humero per ilia producta,
fasciis supra coxas se jungentibus; cauda pilis longis hirsuta.
CHARACTERS.
Dark-brown, passing into black, above; a pale band on each side, running
from the shoulders around the flanks, and uniting on the hips; tail, with long
bushy hairs.
SYNONYMES.
MUSTELA GULO, Linn., Syst., Nat., 12th edit.
URSUS LUSCUS, Linn., Syst., Nat., 12th edit.
URSUS GULO, Pallas, do., Schreber, Saugeth., p. 525.
URSUS GULO, F. Cuv., in Diet. des Se. Nat., 19th edit., p. 79, c. fig.
QUICKHATCH or WOLVERINE, Ellis, Voy. Hudson's Bay, p. 42.
URSUS FRETI HUDSONIS, Briss, Quad., p. 188.
WOLVERING, Cartwright's Journal, vol. ii., p. 407.
WOLVERINE, Pennant's Hist. Quad., vol. ii., p. 8, t. 8, Hearne's Journey,
p. 372.
GULO ARCTICUS, var. A. GLOUTON WOLVERINE., Desm., Mamm., p. 174.
GULO LUSCUS, (Capt.) Sabine, supp. Parry's 1st Voyage, p. 184.
GULO LUSCUS, Sabine, (Mr.) Franklin's 1st Journey, p. 650.
GULO LUSCUS, Richardson's Appendix Parry's 2d Voyage, p. 292.
GULO LUSCUS, Fischer's Mammalium, p. 154.
THE GLUTTON, Buffon, vol. vii., p. 274, pl. 243.
URSUS GULO, Shaw's Gen. Zool., vol. i., p. 46.
GULO VULGARIS, Griffith's Animal Kingdom, sp. 331.
GULO WOLVERINE, Griffith's Animal Kingdom, sp. 332.
GULO LUSCUS, Rich., F.B.A., p. 41.
GULO LUSCUS, Capt. Ross, Expedition, p. 8.
CARCAJOU, French Canadians; QUICKHATCH, English residents.
DESCRIPTION.
Head, of moderate size, broad on the hinder part, much arched, rounded on
all sides; nose, obtuse, naked; eyes small; ears, short, broad, rounded, and
partially hidden by the surrounding fur. The whole head bears a strong
resemblance to that of some of the varieties of the dog.
Body, very long, stout, and compactly made; back, arched; the whole form
indicating strength without much activity. The Wolverene is covered with a very
thick coat of two distinct kinds of hair. The inner fur, soft and short,
scarcely an inch long; the intermixed hairs, numerous, rigid, smooth, and four
inches long; giving the animal the appearance of some shaggy dog.
Legs, short and stout; feet, broad, clothed on the under surface with a
compact mass of woolly hair. Toes, distinct, and armed with five strong,
rounded, and pretty sharp claws. The tracks made in the snow by this species
are large, and not very unlike those of the bear. There are five tubercles on
the soles of the fore-feet, and four on the hind-feet; no tubercle on the heel.
The tail is rather short, hangs low, and is covered with pendulous hairs.
"There are two secretory organs about the size of a walnut, from which it
discharges a fluid of a yellowish-brown colour and of the consistence of honey,
by the rectum, when hard pressed by its enemies."--Ross.
COLOUR.
Under fur, deep chesnut-brown, a shade lighter near the roots; the longer
hairs are brackish-brown throughout their whole length, the hair having very
much the appearance of that of the bear. Eyes, nose, and whiskers, black; a
pale reddish-brown band commences behind the shoulder, and running along the
flanks, turns up on the hip, and unites on the rump with similar markings on the
opposite side. There is a brownish-white band across the forehead running from
ear to ear. On the sides of the neck there are tufts of white hair extending
nearly in a circle from the inside of the legs around the chest. Legs and tail,
brownish-black; claws, dark-brown. The colour varies greatly in different
specimens, and although there is a strong general resemblance among all we have
examined, we are not surprised that attempts have been made from these varieties
to multiply the species. There are however no permanent varieties among the
many specimens we have examined. The peculiar lateral band, although it exists
in all, differs a few shades in colour. In some specimens it is of a chesnut
colour, in others light ferruginous, and in a few cases ash-coloured. We find
these differences of colour existing in both continents, and not confined to
either. We have never seen a specimen of a Wolverene as light in colour as that
to which LINNAEUS gave the specific name of luscus, and we regard it as a mere
accidental variety. We have found American specimens obtained in the Polar
regions fully as black as those from Russia.
DIMENSIONS.
Recent specimen, obtained in Rensselaer county, N.Y.
Feet. Inches. Lines.
From point of nose to root of tail . . . . . 2 9 0
Tail (vertebrae) . . . . . . . . . . . 0 8 0
Height to shoulder . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 0
Height of ear, posteriorly . . . . . . . . 0 1 6
Length of hair on body . . . . . . . . . 0 4 0
From heels to point of nails . . . . . . . 0 5 0
Breadth of hind-foot . . . . . . . . . 0 4 7
Specimen from which our figure was made. Feet. Inches. Lines.
From point of nose to root of tail . . . . . 2 6 0
Tail (vertebrae) . . . . . . . . . . . 0 6 0
Tail, including fur . . . . . . . . . . 0 10 0
Height of ear . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 1 4
HABITS.
The Wolverene, or Glutton as he is generally called, is one of the animals
whose history comes down to us blended with the superstitions of the old
writers. Errors when once received and published, especially if they possess
the charm of great singularity or are connected with tales of wonder, become
fastened on the mind by early reading and the impressions formed in youth, until
we are familiarized with their extravagance, and we at length regret to find
ideas (however incorrect) adopted in early life, not realized by the sober
inquiries and investigations of maturer years.
The Wolverene, confined almost exclusively to Polar regions, where men have
enjoyed few advantages of education and hence have imbibed without much
reflection the errors, extravagances and inventions of hunters and trappers, has
been represented as an animal possessing extraordinary strength, agility, and
cunning, and as being proverbially one of the greatest gormandizers among the
"brutes." OLAUS MAGNUS tells us that "it is wont when it has found the carcass
of some large beast to eat until its belly is distended like a drum, when it
rids itself of its load by squeezing its body betwixt two trees growing near
together, and again returning to its repast, soon requires to have recourse to
the same means of relief." It is even said to thro