Report Wolverine Sighting
Have you seen a Wolverine?
Wolverines are solitary scavengers that live in boreal forests and tundra. With a reputation for being larger than life, they’re famous for their boldness, toughness and formidable attitude. Wolverines are members of Mustelidae, the weasel family. Though they may be weasels, they resemble a small bear with their stocky build and rounded ears. Their fur is dark brown to black, and the sides have a characteristic yellowish brown to whitish stripe.
Why Report Your Sighting?
Reporting sightings helps wildlife
When you submit a wildlife sighting, you’re providing valuable data that will help experts at Colorado Parks and Wildlife make informed management decisions. Because wolverines are so rare, they’re more difficult to study than common species like deer and elk, making public sighting reports especially valuable .
Will my report be made public?
While the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) makes many government records public, there are exceptions to CORA that protect your personal information, information about private property, and animal location data.
Make a Positive Identification
When identifying wildlife in the field, ask two questions: What does it look like? What is it doing? These questions will help you avoid confusing an animal with a similar species and will make your observation report more valuable to CPW experts.
Because they have similar coloration and live in the same habitats, wolverines are sometimes confused with marmots, members of the squirrel family. Look out for these key physical (what does it look like?) and behavioral (what is it doing?) differences when distinguishing marmots and wolverines in the field.
Wolverine
Physical Characteristics
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Bear or dog-like head
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Dark brown coat with ligh strip across forehead; another light strip running from shoulders to rump and base of tail
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Fluffy brown tail with longer hairs
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Longer legs; torso raised off of ground while standing on all fours
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Lighter markings may be present around face, throat and chest
Behavioral characteristics
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Almost always seen on all fours
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Carnivorous; feeds on dead wildlife and occasionally hunts
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Solitary; rarely seen with other wolverines
Marmot
Physical Characteristics
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Squirrel-like head
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Brownish-gray back with yellow to orange underbelly, throat and sides of neck
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Slim tail, usually darker than body, with shorter hairs
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Rounder body shape; torso often near or touching the ground when standing on all fours
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Sometimes have a white patch on forehead and/or around mouth
Behavioral characteristics
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Walks on all fours; sometimes sits up on hind legs, similar to a prairie dog or squirrel
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Herbivorous; feeds on flowers and grasses
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Social; almost always with other marmots