NOTES ON THE NUNAMIUT ESKIMO AND MAMMALS OF ... - arctic

176 THE NUNAMIUT ESKIMO AND MAMMALS OF THE ANAKTUVUK PASS REGION
reported by the Nunamiut. I saw tracks in the upper Savioyok valley in the
fall of 1950, and it is possible that mink are permanent residents in this valley
as the creeks are kept open all winter by flowing springs. The invertebrate
fauna of these creeks is abundant, and a small arctic char, Salvelinus alpinus
(L.), is common. No specimen of mink has been obtained.
Gulo luscus luscus (Linnaeus) . Icavik. Wolverine.
The wolverine is widely distributed in this region. Eight skulls have
been obtained; their measurements are given in Table 111.
Sex Condylobasal
length
Zygomatic
width
Squamosal
constriction
Coronoid
height
Maxillary
tooth row Interorbital
length width
d
d
8
d
140.7
141.6
143.7
144.5
101
101.2 77
78
105.1
103.4
50.5
48.7
50.5 80.6
80.7
51.3
51.9 38.6
52
51.2
38.6
43.4
d
7 d
145.5
146
147.5
155.5
104
106
111
76
77.5
107.5
86
50 76.1
53.5
51.5 42.6
54 52 39
52.5 41 54
54.9 42.5
57 41
Table 111. Skull measurements from 8 wolverine collected in the Anaktuvuk Pass region
(in millimetres).
Degerbgl and Freuchen (1935) were of the opinion that the North
American and European wolverines belong to the same species. This
conclusion does not appear to have had the support of American mammalogists.
However, in view of the ever-increasing number of species now recognized to
have a circumpolar distribution, it would seem that the wolverine will likewise
have to be considered a circumpolar species. I have not compared the
skulls of Brooks Range wolverines with those from Eurasian animals.
A large male wolverine, trapped 20 October 1950 at the mouth of Anaktiktoak
Creek, measured 925 mm. in total length and weighed 34 pounds. The
Nunamiut remarked that they had never seen any larger than this.
The Eskimo maintain that the male animals are most often dark-coloured,
while the females show prominent lateral streaks. On the basis of a relatively
small number of skins examined, this appears to be the case. There is much
colour variation; the lateral streaks vary from nearly white to rufous or brown,
and in some males are hardly visible.
The food of the wolverine consists mainly of snowshoe hares, a good
proportion of mice, and occasional wolf-kills and other carcasses. Under
favourable conditions a few sheep are killed, or, rarely, a caribou.
From 3 to 6 wolverine are trapped each year by the Nunamiut, who use
the fur for parka trimming. In some years as many as 12 to 15 are killed.
I have not heard of any case of wolverine robbing caches in this country; this
is probably because of their general scarcity. The Nunamiut ordinarily trap
wolverine in rock deadfalls. These are set in the fall, using as bait the nose
or foot of caribou, which cannot readily be destroyed by voles. The site is
selected with considerable care, so that the deadfall will not be covered by
snow. Many such traps can be set, and it is not necessary to check them until