Slate Explainers perfectly distill the value of the site. A pithy article by some freelance writer provides useless information that provides instant joy by answering a question that may or may not have been gnawing at the back of your mind.
Which brings us to, How Strong Is A Wolverine?
The article starts by telling us that wolverines aren't as strong, pound for pound, as smaller weasels(who knew wolverines were weasels?). But then we find out:
"Whereas a wolf, another tundra animal, can go several days without eating, the wolverine will begin looking for more food just a few hours after finishing a meal. This sometimes leads to confrontations with larger animals: Researchers in Yellowstone found evidence in 2003 that a wolverine had been killed when it tried to drag an elk carcass away from a feeding bear. The wolverine doesn't often hunt big prey, though—it mostly lives on smaller animals like hares and carrion left over after a wolf-pack kill. When it does attack a large animal, like a reindeer or a caribou, it's been known to leap on the prey's back and bite it on the neck."
Wolverines jump on the backs of caribou and kill them? That sounds pretty strong to me! I think we have a bit of the "ants are the strongest creatures" thing going on here. Who cares if an ant can carry a big leaf? A wolverine can kill a caribou! Aside from that, very good explainer Slate!
1 comment:
This is like our animals/food/Ron Howard theme week.
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