Editing Wolverine (section)

=== Diet and hunting ===
[[File:Ahma (Gulo gulo) 7 kallerna.jpg|thumb|Wolverine with prey in [[Finland]]]]

Wolverines are primarily [[scavenger]]s.<ref name="VanDijk">{{cite journal |author=Van Dijk, J., Gustavsen, L., Mysterud, A., May, R., Flagstad, Ø., Brøseth, H., ... and Landa, A. |year=2008 |title=Diet shift of a facultative scavenger, the wolverine, following recolonization of wolves |journal=Journal of Animal Ecology |volume=77 |issue=6 |pages=1183–1190 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01445.x |pmid=18657209 |bibcode=2008JAnEc..77.1183V |doi-access=free}}</ref> Most of their food is [[carrion]], especially in winter and early spring. They may find carrion themselves, feed on it after the predator (often, a [[wolf]] pack) has finished, or simply take it from another predator. Wolverines are known to follow wolf and [[lynx]] trails to scavenge the remains of their kills. Whether eating live prey or carrion, the wolverine's feeding style appears voracious, leading to the nickname of "glutton" (also the basis of the scientific name). However, this feeding style is believed to be an adaptation to food scarcity, especially in winter.<ref>[http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=MA0160 Wolverine Gulo gulo] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604183300/http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=MA0160 |date=4 June 2012}}, eNature.com</ref>

The wolverine is also a powerful and versatile predator. Its prey mainly consists of small to medium-sized mammals, but wolverines have been recorded killing prey many times larger than itself, such as adult deer. Prey species include [[porcupine]]s, [[squirrel]]s, [[chipmunk]]s, [[beaver]]s, [[marmot]]s, [[mole (animal)|moles]], [[gopher]]s, [[rabbit]]s, [[vole]]s, mice, rats, [[shrew]]s, [[lemming]]s, [[Reindeer|caribou]], [[roe deer]], [[white-tailed deer]], [[mule deer]], sheep, goats, cattle, [[bison]], [[moose]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scrafford |first1=Matthew A. |last2=Boyce |first2=Mark S. |year=2018 |title=Temporal patterns of wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus) foraging in the boreal forest |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=99 |issue=3 |pages=693–701 |doi=10.1093/jmammal/gyy030 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and [[elk]].<ref>{{Cite web
| author1= Bret Weinstein
| author2= Liz Ballenger 
| author3=Matthew Sygo
| work = Animal Diversity Web
| publisher= University of Michigan Museum of Zoology 
|title=Gulo gulo| year = 1999
|url=http://www.arlis.org/docs/vol1/52386062/gulo_gulo_001.html|access-date=2023-02-07|archive-date=15 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015212645/http://www.arlis.org/docs/vol1/52386062/gulo_gulo_001.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Smaller predators are occasionally preyed on, including [[marten]]s, [[mink]], foxes, [[Eurasian lynx]],<ref name="A.A. Sludskii 1992. p. 625">Heptner, V.G. and Sludskii, A.A. (1992). Humans are apparently exempt. ''Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume II Part 2 Carnivora: Hyenas and Cats''. New Delhi: Amerind Publishing, p. 625</ref> [[weasel]]s,<ref name="A.A. Sludskii 1992. p. 625" /> [[coyote]], and [[wolf]] pups. Wolverines have also been known to kill [[Canada lynx]] in the [[Yukon]] of Canada.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rockwood |first=Larry L |title=Introduction to Population Ecology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xHFuCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA273 |url-status=live |publisher=Wiley |date=2015 |pages=273– |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505192841/https://books.google.com/books?id=xHFuCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA273 |archive-date=5 May 2016 |isbn=978-1-118-94755-5}}</ref> Wolverines often pursue live prey that are relatively easy to obtain, including animals caught in traps, newborn mammals, and deer (including adult moose and elk) when they are weakened by winter or immobilized by heavy snow. Their diets are sometimes supplemented by birds' eggs, birds (especially [[geese]]), [[root]]s, [[seed]]s, insect larvae, and [[berries]]. Adult wolverines appear to be one of the few conspecific mammal carnivores to actively pose a threat to [[golden eagles]]. Wolverines were observed to prey on nestling golden eagles in [[Denali National Park]].<ref>Petersen, M. R., D. N. Weir, and M. H. Dick. 1991. ''Birds of the Kilbuck and Ahklun Mountain Region, Alaska''. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service, North American Fauna 76, Washington, D.C.</ref> During incubation in Northern Sweden, an incubating adult golden eagle was killed in its nest by a wolverine.<ref>Bjärvall, A. and R. Franzén. 1986. ''Wolverine killed Golden Eagle''. Fauna Och Flora 81:205-206.</ref>

Wolverines inhabiting the [[Old World]] (specifically, [[Fennoscandia]]) hunt more actively than their North American relatives.<ref name="wwf">{{Cite web|url=http://www.wwf.se/source.php/1018447/Wolverine%20Symposium.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620034232/http://www.wwf.se/source.php/1018447/Wolverine%20Symposium.pdf|url-status=dead|title=World Wildlife Fund–Sweden: 1st International Symposium on Wolverine Research and Management|archive-date=20 June 2007|access-date=4 March 2022}}</ref> This may be because competing predator populations in Eurasia are less dense, making it more practical for the wolverine to hunt for itself than to wait for another animal to make a kill and then try to snatch it. They often feed on carrion left by wolves, so changes in wolf populations may affect the population of wolverines.<ref name="gr"/> They are also known on occasion to eat plant material.<ref name="rickert">{{cite news |last=Rickert |first=Eve |title=The perils of secrecy |url=http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=17093 |url-status=live |newspaper=High Country News |date=28 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040255/http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=17093 |archive-date=28 September 2007}}</ref>

Wolverines often [[Hoarding (animal behavior)|cache]] their food during times of plenty. This is of particular importance to [[Lactation|lactating]] females in the winter and early spring, a time when food is scarce.<ref name="LIVE SCI">{{cite web|url=http://www.livescience.com/21590-wolverines-refrigerators-climate.html|title=Climate change could melt wolverines' snowy refrigerators|date=13 July 2012|access-date=22 October 2015|publisher=Live Science|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729015037/http://www.livescience.com/21590-wolverines-refrigerators-climate.html|archive-date=29 July 2015}}</ref>