Return of the Wolverine

     Living in southeast Michigan, I was outside and saw a moderately large, dark brown animal leap into the bushes as I approached. It was hard to tell what it was, but, after being told by my family members about their own encounters with an animal none of us have seen around here before (climbing a tree, sticking its head in the open long enough to be identified...), we agree that it is likely a wolverine.

     You may wonder what Hugh Jackman was doing in my yard in the first place . . . (sorry). I'm referring to a member of the weasel family rarely seen in the continental United States. They are able to grow up to about seventy pounds in weight, though even the smaller ones are capable of fending fearsome and much larger predators such as bears and wolves, something which made me glad it decided to run away from me and not towards me. In 2004, the first confirmed Michigan wolverine sighting in over 200 years took place (you can read about it here if you want: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4374309).

     The question is not so much why they are returning as how. Both the upper and lower peninsula's of Michigan are surrounded by the largest freshwater lakes in the world, the same lakes which seperate the state from our northern neighbor, Canada. Wolverines live in the more northern areas of the world, one of which is Canada, and it is from there that they must be coming, but repeating the former question, how do they cross to Michigan? Possible explanations include being released or escaping from captivity (zoos?), crossing around the lakes on land, or crossing directly over layers of ice that form during the winter months like the bering strait all over again. It was wierd to see one being that there are supposedly, at most, only 200-300 wolverines in all of the United States. Our sightings will likely come to an end some time soon as it turns out they have a range of over 200 miles, but who knows, maybe it likes it here.