Wolverines live in harsh conditions; they range over large areas
of cold mountainous low-productivity habitat with persistent
snow. The paper suggests wolverines take advantage of the
crevices and boulders of the mountainous terrain, as well as the
snow cover to cache and "refrigerate" food sources such as elk,
caribou, moose and mountain goat carrion, ground squirrels and
other food collected during more plentiful times of year. These
cold, structured chambers provide protection of the food supply
from scavengers, insects and bacteria. In addition, the
refrigerated caches increase the predictability of available
food resources, reduce the energy spent by females searching for
food while in lactation phase, and decrease the time mothers
spend away from cubs. The paper appears in the current edition
of the Journal of Mammalogy and was co-authored by Robert M.
Inman of WCS, Audrey J. Magoun of Wildlife Research and
Management, Jens Persson of the Swedish University of
Agricultural Sciences, and Jenny Mattisson