Climate Change Could Melt Wolverines' Snowy 'Refrigerators'

Wolverines, bearlike members of the weasel family, seem to depend on spring snow cover, but it's not clear why.

Now, an international group of researchers has a new theory: Wolverines use snow like a refrigerator to preserve food during the lean, cold times after their young are born, they suggest.  

The animals live in the northern parts of North America, Asia and Europe where resources can be scarce. Their vulnerability to warming landed them as a "candidate for protection" in 2010 under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. As such, ever year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will review the wolverines' status and work with others to implement voluntary measures.

After reviewing previous work on wolverine reproduction and food availability, the research team concluded that the wolverines live only within a "refrigeration zone," where spring snow and cold allow them to store the food they scavenge or kill. This strategy keeps insects, bacteria and other scavengers from consuming it.


Wolverines eat everything from moose and mountain goats to ground squirrels, birds' eggs and berries.


Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/21590-wolverines-refrigerators-climate.html