One of the carnivores referred to as "
The four great ones" the
wolverine,
Gulo gulo, has a reputation of being the
cruelest of
hunters. The old
Swedish name for the woverine was
filfras, which comes from the German word
Vilefrass that means "
the one that eats a lot". In French the wolverine is called
Gloutton, which kind of speaks for itself. So, this animal has been considered to
kill for fun, or just to
drink the blood of its
victim. However, the wolverine is not a very skilled hunter. Actually it's downright
clumsy. It catches its
occasional prey with great difficulty and is often seen to follow the
bear,
fox or
lynx in hope to find some
carcass these more
agile carnivores might leave behind.
The greatest asset of the wolverine are not its sharp claws, but rather its huge paws. These make it possible for the wolverine to stalk reindeer when the snow has just fallen and is not yet very solid. The reindeer will plunge through, whereas its stalker can move more swiftly on top of the snow and then catch its prey. Also the wolverine looks particularly cute when it uses its oversized paws to surf the snowy waves made by avalanches on the mountainside.