Scar Creek

 

Scar Creek
 
J;
My only close encounter with Wolverines (Gulo gulo) occurred on the Homathko River in 1973. We had just finished a tree-planting contract up near Scar Creek, and were breaking down the temporary camp we had built on the riverbank. The trucks were loaded, except for an old canoe that had seen little use during the whole month. My friend Scott Swantner suggested we take it down the river and meet up with everyone at the head of the inlet, so off we went on full spring runoff.
The water was milky so it was hard to see shallows in braided channels, but the valley is so flat that we didn't encounter any real rapids. On one big bend we were running the deep current along the outside bank when we came upon a stretch of trees that were all leaning over the water, so we hunkered down in the canoe and floated along under the branches. Suddenly, only a few feet over our heads was a whole posse of Wolverines, snarling, growling, hissing and reaching with big paws at us. Like a cross between a bear and a raccoon with long hair and an aggressive temper, they might have attacked and enjoyed eating us for lunch if our canoe had gotten snagged in their trees. Luckily we soon put some distance between us and their awful smell, but it was an exhilarating brush with the tooth and claw wildness of Bute Inlet that neither of us can forget. ~David Shipway
 
Wolverines
Gulo gulo means greedy, greedy.