Finland 2026 – part two

Spending time in wildlife photography hides along the Finnish-Russian border offers unique opportunities to observe bears, wolverines and wolves in their natural habitat. Hidden away in vast forests and wetlands, you sometimes wait until well into the night for these impressive predators to appear. Things become truly spectacular when they clash over the bait laid out in front of the hides. Although these kinds of interactions are far from guaranteed, they are nevertheless witnessed from time to time between bears and wolves. Over the years, I have experienced some truly outstanding wildlife moments. The night of 10–11 July, in the heart of the Finnish summer of 2026, was another one of those occasions.

 

Because of the changing composition of the group participants, whose individual preferences (into observation and/or photography) naturally always take priority, the guiding responsibilities I take on, and the presence of other visitors in the observation and photography hides near the lake in the vicinity of Lieksa, I have to settle into one of the photography hides at the forest location near the base camp.

However, the entire afternoon, evening and even the first part of the night pass without a single sighting. No brown bear, no wolf, no wolverine. With several nights still ahead of me, I decide that enough is enough. Time to get some sleep, I think. Perhaps there will be something to see tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, the short and, above all, interrupted nights are taking their toll, leaving me chronically sleep-deprived. Once in bed, I simply cannot get comfortable, either literally or figuratively. The bed in the hide is too short, and the mattress too hard to lie on comfortably. So I get out my air mattress, inflate it, move the chair aside and prepare to sleep on the floor. Just before settling down, I catch sight of a wolverine out of the corner of my eye, through the toilet window to my right.

A few moments later, the local young female wolf appears in its wake. She sits back on her haunches, watching the situation intently. She is clearly hungry but far from assertive. The flickering of her eyes, the twitching of her ears and the shaking of her head all betray her interest. She would like to get involved, but she does not quite dare.

The adult, powerfully built wolverine has clearly picked up on this.

It makes itself look bigger by puffing up its body, fixes the wolf with a stern stare and conveys just one message: you stay right there. I am in charge here, and everything belongs to me.

A little later, the wolverine starts hopping around, inspecting the available bait. Some is hanging in the trees, while other pieces are hidden beneath rocks and vegetation. The wolf, however, cannot resist her curiosity and gradually edges closer. She is hungry too, and clearly interested in an easy meal. When bite-sized morsels are there for the taking, you do not simply walk away from them.

But the moment she gets a little too close to the wolverine, it loses its temper.

Twice, it charges at the wolf.

She gets the message. Tail tucked between her legs and ears flattened, she disappears among the juniper bushes. The wolverine is left as the undisputed owner of the buffet.

And me?

I am still standing there, hunched over, about to lay my air mattress on the floor. Wide awake now.

When the wolverine climbs a tree, I decide to try and take a quick photograph. I drop to my knees, release the ball head and point my lens towards it. Halfway up a tree trunk, there is usually a moment when a wolverine pauses, almost motionless, to inspect the bait attached to the tree. And when it hears the camera, it sometimes looks up for a moment. A quick pose, so to speak.

But during those brief, silent movements as I position myself, the entire situation changes. In addition to the wolf behind me and the wolverine in the tree, there is now a second wolf. Just behind the wolverine. A large wolf with a powerful head. Motionless. Ears pricked. Eyes blazing. Utterly fixated.

It is the resident alpha male. I have photographed him at close range here before, just as I have his daughter, who is standing behind me. Two moments I will never forget, precisely because they happened at such close quarters. These encounters are simply incredible. Observing the expressions on a wolf’s face, seeing not only the intent they convey but also how quickly that intent can change, is unbelievably cool. Being able to witness this time and time again is pure magic. It is natural behaviour that many people will never see, let alone understand. I am addicted to it.

The wolverine, busy feeding on the bait halfway up the Scots pine, has clearly failed to notice the male wolf. Unlike his submissive daughter, the alpha is brimming with confidence and assertiveness.

This wolverine is going to have a serious problem the moment it comes down from the tree!

The wolf is clearly waiting for the right moment to spring into action. And I mean that quite literally. Just before the wolverine reaches the ground, the wolf launches himself forward. From a sitting position, he transforms into a leaping spear. Within a few bounds, he is beside the fleeing wolverine. In no time at all, the female wolf joins him.

Together, they leap against the Scots pine, barking and growling several times at the wolverine, which seeks safety higher up the trunk. But the wolverine is too high for them to reach.

Both wolves are visibly agitated. They circle around several times, ears pricked and tails curled.

When it becomes clear that the wolverine has no intention of leaving the Scots pine, the wolves soon begin searching here and there for the bait.

It is only after fifteen minutes that the wolverine seems to think it is safe. Cautiously, it begins to descend, hind legs first…

I slip a cushion under my knees but remain where I am. This is an interaction I have never witnessed before, a scene I want to keep watching. Taking photographs is out of the question. It is too dark, there is too much movement, and everything is happening just beyond my camera’s reach. Changing the aperture would only disturb the scene. So I simply watch, taking it all in with my own eyes.

But a wolverine on the ground is a no-go for either wolf.

Immediately, they launch another charge at the world’s largest member of the weasel family. With too few trees along its escape route, the trio now find themselves face to face.

The wolverine, back arched and fur standing on end, freezes for a split second. The wolves, momentarily confused by the sudden movement, do the same. It is just long enough for the wolverine to reach the cover of a few juniper bushes. But the wolves continue the pursuit.

The screams and shrieks echoing from the bushes and the adjoining forest sound anything but a peaceful retreat. It certainly does not sound as though the wolverine is getting away without losing a few tufts of fur. It is therefore quite possible that this individual will turn up again later, albeit looking a little worse for wear. Tonight or tomorrow morning? Honestly, I doubt it!

Competition for available food clearly comes with risks here. Young, inexperienced wolverines are particularly vulnerable, as confrontations like this can leave them seriously injured or even dead.

Both wolves return later. Not for another confrontation, but to finish off the remaining bait.

Eventually, as the sky begins to lighten and the darkest part of the night passes, they too disappear from the scene.

Despite the uneventful afternoon, evening and first part of the night, I realise only too well that I have just witnessed one of the greatest wildlife encounters of my life: a spectacle lasting more than an hour. What a privilege, once again!

With my knees still numb, I inflate my air mattress and lie down. One sharp tug, and I sleep right through until the following morning.

Just before eight o’clock, when we have to vacate the hides, I pull the plug from my air mattress and pack everything away. I close the door behind me and walk back along the path towards the base camp. It is one of those moments when everything feels right, despite the exhaustion. As though I am walking on air. Yes!

Wolf vs wolverine and vice versa – the unexpected sequel

 

After all these years spent in observation and photography hides, and after finally witnessing an interaction between a wolverine and a wolf, you might think this is not something you will see again anytime soon. But nature, as we all know, is unpredictable. Just like last season, when we witnessed two consecutive, entirely natural sightings of a Eurasian lynx at precisely the same location within a mere fourteen days, we now find ourselves witnessing another interaction between a wolf and a wolverine almost immediately after the first.

 

This time, however, the roles are initially reversed. It is the wolf that initiates the chase and displays the greatest assertiveness.

A wolverine appears to the right of the hide we are occupying. It is searching for the food laid out in front of hide number seven. We are in hide number three and can follow the wolverine, rummaging around directly in front of hide number seven, only through our binoculars. The animal is being relentlessly harassed by four different magpies. It has absolutely no idea that the bears and the young female wolf, simultaneously competing for the available food in front of our own hide, are there at all.

The young, solitary female wolf in front of our hide is a yearling. Faced with the imposing brown bears that clearly rule the roost here, she has little choice but to acknowledge their dominance. Unlike the wolverine, however, her larger size gives her a better overview of what is happening around her. The tall vegetation across the clearing barely obstructs her view.

Then, suddenly, everything changes. The wolf has spotted the wolverine.

The hesitant young wolf of before transforms into a stalking predator. With her head and neck held low to the ground, her body forms a streamlined silhouette that follows the height of the grass. Ears pricked, eyes locked on her target: within moments, she is upon the wolverine.

The wolverine bolts towards an adjoining stand of Scots pines. Just before climbing a tree, it drops the piece of bait it is carrying in its mouth. The wolf emerges victorious, leaving the forest with the stolen prize.

But the wolverine is not about to give up without a fight. It follows the wolf and manages to reclaim its prize. The female is clearly unprepared for this sudden reappearance. Even so, she shows her own assertiveness. For the second time, she gives chase.

Once again, the wolverine has to drop its hard-won prize and choose its own safety over the food.

Ultimately, after a longer chase through the same stand of trees, it is the female wolf that reappears a little later. By then, she has eaten the bait.

Following her interaction with the resident bears, we have now witnessed her interacting with a wolverine twice as well. And all of this takes place in good light.

Where else in the world can you witness scenes like these? Only in Finland!