0:03
Snowcapped peaks, Evergreen forests, frozen waterfalls.
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It's wintertime in the Cascade Mountain Range in northern Washington state.
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We're here to join 2 field biologist Stephanie Williams and Dave Moskowitz.
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They study one of the most elusive animals on Earth.
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We're going to go check two of our monitoring stations for Wolverines by Early Winters Creek Water set here in the North Cascades.
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Wolverines are found across the northern parts of America, Europe and Asia.
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Vast, rugged and remote terrains that are difficult for humans to even access, let alone for scientists to study.
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The range of an individual Wolverine can cover hundreds of square miles.
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Finding just one of these carnivores is like searching for a needle in a snowy haystack.
1:00
The trail to Stephen David's Wolverine Research area is up the North Cascades Hwy.
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This road is closed in the winter due to heavy snowfall and the risk of avalanches.
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The best way up is by snowmobile with skis and snowshoes.
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We set out on foot into the base of the watershed hoping to spot one of these elusive creatures.
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Mush.
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Globally, Wolverine populations are stable, but here in the US there are an estimated fewer than 350 remaining.
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Since so little is known about this, solitary animal, conservation efforts are a challenge.
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Dave and Steph are here to change that, to learn all they can by trapping Wolverines.
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But not with a cage, with a camera.
1:55
Oh, I see it.
1:57
This is it Steph and Dave, I found the trap.
2:00
Oh good.
2:01
So before we walked around too much, it's a good idea to look around the tracks, see if there's any **** or any sign of an animal being here recently.
2:09
OK, I've already seen tracks coming up through the trees here.
2:14
These tracks don't belong to Wolverines.
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They've been made by another fur covered winter survivor, Martins.
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These forest specialists are best known for their exceptional climbing abilities, and although they're both members of the weasel family, Martins are relatively common compared to the incredibly rare Wolverine.
2:37
Looks like we've got 2 cameras.
2:39
Oh wow, look at that.
2:41
The wolverine's supposed to come up on this pole and come through here and this one's going to get a photo of it front on.
2:46
Its chess plays and then this one's a vicinity camera that's just going to get any animals that come around the base of this.
2:54
OK.
2:55
And then a little wire brush.
2:56
What are those for?
2:57
For snagging hairs.
2:58
So as The Wolverine comes through, ideally it leaves a little bit of a tear on the gun brushes.
3:03
I see.
3:04
And that would go into the lab or analysis.
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Ideally, if you get a good sample, they can tell you the individual and how it's related to other Wolverines in the Cascades.
3:13
DNA from collected hair samples and unique chest markings captured by the cameras allow Steph and Dave to identify individual Wolverines without capturing or handling them.
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This noninvasive approach helps researchers understand Wolverine populations, habitats and health, providing vital data for conservation efforts.
3:36
We're not just capturing these animals if they happen to run by, there's actually something luring them to this spot.
3:43
And I imagine it's this above my head.
3:45
But Dave, what is this?
3:46
That's our attractant, in this case, a piece of a road killed deer, which we collect with the help of the Washington Department of Transportation.
3:53
And then we'll apply a trapper's lure as well to it, which is a long range attractant that smells really bad to us, but really good to Wolverines.
4:00
Their sense of smell is hundreds of times better than ours.
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The camera traps are triggered by any movement.
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Wolverines are primarily scavengers, and sometimes a determined Wolverine will take dramatic steps to try and get the hanging bait.
4:17
We have a dozen overall throughout the North Cascades, and it takes us about a week to get through checking each one of them, which we do once a month over the course of the winter.
4:25
Oh, my gosh.
4:26
How long have you 2 been up to this project?
4:30
Year eight.
4:30
Yeah.
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And we got a Wolverine at this station the first two years of the project, but we haven't gotten one since.
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They were quite curious about why that is.
4:41
Has there been any change in weather patterns and snowfall that might relate to them not being seen the last six years?
4:47
Generally the snowpack average is declining.
4:50
That's the long term trend and that's why they're listed as a threatened species I see because we're losing snowpack and temperatures are warming.
4:56
There's snow adapted species that can't survive without deep snow.
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So they're an indicator of the functioning of this ecosystem.
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And if they disappear, that's going to speak to whether or not there's ecosystem level changes going on as well.
