4 ms·

Wolverines: The Future of Search and Rescue

66 points by curtis 10y ago

ioddly 10y ago
There was a Soviet study back in the day that domesticated wild foxes in just a few generations. While the article talks about training them in captivity, a few generations of selection for human-friendliness might do an even better job of ensuring they don't injure their handlers or avalanche victims. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Domesticated_Red_Fox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Domesticated_Red_Fox
YeGoblynQueenne 10y ago
Very interesting, but one more snag might be the way people will tend to react to a wolverine snout suddendly erupting through the pile of snow trapping them (like in the video). Personally, if I was ever trapped and any wild animal came near me I'm pretty sure I'd scream my lungs out and kick with all the strength left to me. Trained wolverines will have to be marked very, very clearly to avoid this sort of reaction.
- Qantourisc 10y ago
  Looked at some pictures, they don't look that much scarier then a dog. I would probably like YES I am free, with a CRAP what is that ?!?
  - andrewl 10y ago
    They're fascinating animals. They are also apparently one of the most aggressive animals in the world, and pound for pound the most formidable. I'd be much more scared of a wolverine than any dog. Besides the teeth, with which they can crush bones like a hyena, they also have huge claws. They're worth reading about (and avoiding fights with).
KyleBrandt 10y ago
The linked video in the article isn't very impressive from a scientific point of view (i.e. it could smell the owner doing the burying etc). But it is super cute! https://youtu.be/nNgv3opJqoQ https://youtu.be/nNgv3opJqoQ
todd8 10y ago
I just found a beautiful red fox in my front yard. It was stretched out as if sleeping on the grass: dead and probably hit by a car, sad. It really was a lovely animal except for one thing, in comparison to a similar sized dog its mouth was full of sharp teeth and the muzzle gave the impression of being more feral. I think a live wolverine's mouth would be even scarier. Maybe a muzzle with a red-cross on it over the wolverine's mouth would make it less terrifying to a trapped victim. Dogs have teeth smaller than similar wild canine species. The suggestion is that there has been (human driven) selective evolutionary pressure during the 20,000 years or so of dogs domestication to make them more compatible with life around humans. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_domestic_dog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_domestic_dog
micro_cam 10y ago
Wolverine's are awesome and I have no doubt they could be be trained for this. However I'm not sure it makes any sort of economic sense due to the difficulties in breeding and keeping wolverines and the need for avalanche rescues to happen extremely quickly. Statistics show that avalanche rescue needs to happen in less then 10-15 minutes for a victim to have a good chance of survival. Backcountry skiers wear radio transceivers so their partners can respond instantly for this reason. Big ski areas will have a few trained dogs who hang out in ski patrol shacks at the top of runs so they can be deployed quickly in the event of a rare inbounds slide that traps people not wearing beacons. Any backcountry skier who takes risk and safety seriously will tell you that dogs, and even beacons are really just for body recovery though and avoidance is key.
- sandworm101 10y ago
  The dogs are the product a thousand generations of selective breeding. Both a labrador and a wolverine could kill me, but I wouldn't want to be stuck in a gondola with the later. > even beacons are really just for body recovery though and avoidance is key. In my day (more than a decade ago) there was much debate about the beacons giving people too much confidence, that they caused more accidents than they saved lives. I always used them, but understood why some disliked their effects. I shutter to think what would happen should someone develop a smartphone app to 'replace' traditional radio beacons. Imho the real dangers came from speed. Snow machines and helicopters moved people through terrain without them spending the time to know the snow. When you spend most of the day walking up a hill you have a better appreciation for what is happening under your feet.
  - koverstreet 10y ago
    A lab, kill a person? An adult? If you've ever had large dogs, and played with them - they're really not remotely formidable opponents. Anything but maybe the largest breeds bred for fighting doesn't stand a chance against a person who's wrestling/grappling them, they're not flexible or muscled in the right ways. A wolverine though? I've never interacted with one, but I do know what ferrets are like - small, terrifying balls of pure muscle that can bend and twist every which way and are unbelievably fast. That's scary enough in a ferret size package, but a wolverine? Oh HELL no.

66 points by curtis 10y ago

There was a Soviet study back in the day that domesticated wild foxes in just a few generations. While the article talks about training them in captivity, a few generations of selection for human-friendliness might do an even better job of ensuring they don't injure their handlers or avalanche victims. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Domesticated_Red_Fox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Domesticated_Red_Fox

YeGoblynQueenne 10y ago

Very interesting, but one more snag might be the way people will tend to react to a wolverine snout suddendly erupting through the pile of snow trapping them (like in the video). Personally, if I was ever trapped and any wild animal came near me I'm pretty sure I'd scream my lungs out and kick with all the strength left to me. Trained wolverines will have to be marked very, very clearly to avoid this sort of reaction.

Qantourisc 10y ago
Looked at some pictures, they don't look that much scarier then a dog. I would probably like YES I am free, with a CRAP what is that ?!?
- andrewl 10y ago
  They're fascinating animals. They are also apparently one of the most aggressive animals in the world, and pound for pound the most formidable. I'd be much more scared of a wolverine than any dog. Besides the teeth, with which they can crush bones like a hyena, they also have huge claws. They're worth reading about (and avoiding fights with).

KyleBrandt 10y ago

The linked video in the article isn't very impressive from a scientific point of view (i.e. it could smell the owner doing the burying etc). But it is super cute! https://youtu.be/nNgv3opJqoQ https://youtu.be/nNgv3opJqoQ

todd8 10y ago

I just found a beautiful red fox in my front yard. It was stretched out as if sleeping on the grass: dead and probably hit by a car, sad. It really was a lovely animal except for one thing, in comparison to a similar sized dog its mouth was full of sharp teeth and the muzzle gave the impression of being more feral. I think a live wolverine's mouth would be even scarier. Maybe a muzzle with a red-cross on it over the wolverine's mouth would make it less terrifying to a trapped victim. Dogs have teeth smaller than similar wild canine species. The suggestion is that there has been (human driven) selective evolutionary pressure during the 20,000 years or so of dogs domestication to make them more compatible with life around humans. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_domestic_dog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_domestic_dog

micro_cam 10y ago

Wolverine's are awesome and I have no doubt they could be be trained for this. However I'm not sure it makes any sort of economic sense due to the difficulties in breeding and keeping wolverines and the need for avalanche rescues to happen extremely quickly. Statistics show that avalanche rescue needs to happen in less then 10-15 minutes for a victim to have a good chance of survival. Backcountry skiers wear radio transceivers so their partners can respond instantly for this reason. Big ski areas will have a few trained dogs who hang out in ski patrol shacks at the top of runs so they can be deployed quickly in the event of a rare inbounds slide that traps people not wearing beacons. Any backcountry skier who takes risk and safety seriously will tell you that dogs, and even beacons are really just for body recovery though and avoidance is key.

sandworm101 10y ago
The dogs are the product a thousand generations of selective breeding. Both a labrador and a wolverine could kill me, but I wouldn't want to be stuck in a gondola with the later. > even beacons are really just for body recovery though and avoidance is key. In my day (more than a decade ago) there was much debate about the beacons giving people too much confidence, that they caused more accidents than they saved lives. I always used them, but understood why some disliked their effects. I shutter to think what would happen should someone develop a smartphone app to 'replace' traditional radio beacons. Imho the real dangers came from speed. Snow machines and helicopters moved people through terrain without them spending the time to know the snow. When you spend most of the day walking up a hill you have a better appreciation for what is happening under your feet.
- koverstreet 10y ago
  A lab, kill a person? An adult? If you've ever had large dogs, and played with them - they're really not remotely formidable opponents. Anything but maybe the largest breeds bred for fighting doesn't stand a chance against a person who's wrestling/grappling them, they're not flexible or muscled in the right ways. A wolverine though? I've never interacted with one, but I do know what ferrets are like - small, terrifying balls of pure muscle that can bend and twist every which way and are unbelievably fast. That's scary enough in a ferret size package, but a wolverine? Oh HELL no.