Part two of midsummer hide watching in Finland in 2024

Despite unnaturally learned behavior in apex predators due to artificial bait, a night in a hide to observe large carnivores, is and remains spectacular. Moreover, no night is the same. With wolves and wolverines in the same area where brown bears appear, there is also a chance of observing interaction between these three different carnivores. In July 2024 we again were fortunate to witness three such encounters.

A second atmospheric report of an observation with bears, wolves and wolverines feasting on natural carrion from midnight till early in the morning.

The hide session of the 22^nd of July near Lieksa is productive quite quickly as, with the appearance of Torny near the baiting area present. Not two hours after we installed ourselves in the hide. The wolverine clearly knows where its meal is hidden. To do so, it turns over several stones that lie in front of the hide. Also, she climbs pines to which bait is attached. It is also clear that these animals are habituated. They aren’t bothered by human presence at all. After all, they approach the hide windows to within two meters. Also below, in the more open area with grass, this wolverine loiters around looking for food. After about half an hour, Torny, a nickname because of the torn corner of its mouth, disappears again from where it emerged – behind the hut where we are.

Then we must wait for another two hours before Snowflake shows up. This is a large wolverine with a beautiful, shiny and thick coat of fur. Characteristic is the white spot on its otherwise completely black chest. Snowflake first stays a bit on the far bank of the lake. More specifically in the vegetation between the lake and the hill behind it, overgrown with primeval forest and scattered rocky boulders covered with moss.

The log that lies across the lake is his regular route to come our way. In the grassy plain he is mainly busy looking for food. Not to eat but to store it somewhere else as a certain meal in the future. He also scent marked a lot. When he returns to the ancient hilly forest, he decides to swim across the lake. This instead of walking over the log that lies in the water. He then disappears quite far along the bank out of sight in an easterly direction.

Around midnight two brown bears suddenly appear near the carcass of the elk. It is the beginning of hours of fun, joy and happiness in terms of observing large carnivores! The carcass of the elk previously remained untouched in the more open grassy plain. Now it is situated at the bottom of the opposite hill. It seems it is not only the more sheltered location that allows the bears to forage more safely. It is also clear that the state of decomposition of the carcass appeals more to the bears. The rotten meat clearly tastes good to them, given their voracious way of eating!

After both bears (one large and one slightly smaller) have eaten their fill, the smaller one moves away from the carcass along the shore of the lake in an easterly direction. But, unlike the wolverine earlier, he does not continue walking. Sniffing with his nose over the adjacent lake, you can clearly see that he is preparing to swim across it. Something that happens a few moments later. The second, larger one does the same! However, less than an hour later, both individuals reappear near the carcass. Once they were on our side of the lake, they must have walked behind us to approach the carcass again from a westerly direction. So, around the block and ready to eat again! The bigger of the bears rubs itself several times on a large rock. He is also the less active one of them and now and then lies down having short naps. The smaller individual, on the other hand, remains quite active and nervous around the carcass.The reason for that seems to be a third brown bear that appears a little later. It is something the first two are not happy about. Until four in the morning they continuously chased the third bear away from the carcass.

It is only when both dominant bears are out of view on the slope behind him, that the third bear dares to eat the carcass. A wolverine, not entirely clear whether it is snowflake or not, also appears again around 2:40 in the grassy area in front of us. This for about twenty minutes. Strangely enough, the presence of the bears on the other side is nothing to be afraid of. In the past, this has often been different. With bears present in the vicinity of the feeding place, wolverines usually stay away. But not this time.

And wolves are not absent either! Not fifteen minutes after Snowflake disappears from the scene, a wolf suddenly appears out of nowhere on top of the large boulder that lies behind the carcass of the elk! The animal, which is clearly wary of the bears present, succeeds in tearing a lump of meat from the carcass after five minutes. The third bear, who in the meantime approaches the carcass, is startled by the suddenly appearing wolf. He immediately starts running, identical to the confrontations with the two other bears. The wolf, however, decides to devour his lump of meat out of sight and higher up the hill. This allows the subordinate bear to approach the carcass. And, when the wolf returns for another meal, the roles are reversed. It is the bear who now stands his ground and the wolf who starts running. And the show, with another wolf suddenly appearing in front of us on the plain, continues! The second wolf stays there until 4:59 in the morning! Incredible is the way she carefully searches everywhere for the food that Snowflake, the local, most beautiful looking wolverine, previously cached everywhere between the tall grass and the bank vegetation. Simultaneously, the same wolf from before appears on the other side with a third wolf there a little later, albeit briefly. This third animal is characterized by its rather red colored fur. The individual on our side is beige and the first appearing individual on the other side is rather grayish in fur color. Most likely we are witnessing the local alpha couple with a pack member from the previous year. We do not see the third, younger pack member again afterwards. The gray alpha male however does.

He too is suddenly standing in the grassy area in front of us! But, identical to the behavior of the beige alpha female, he does so in a very shy way. Super alert and with his tail under his body, he also goes looking for food. Although for a much shorter time than the alpha female did. The open character of the area does not suit him. After ten minutes he disappears, preferring the cover of the adjacent bushes and the dense birch forest.

When the female finally decides to leave, we have some time to summarize the past spectacle of large carnivores. In total we saw at least two different wolverines with all watching time added up were visible for ninety minutes. Three different bears present with breaks from midnight to four in the morning showing interaction with each other and with one of the three wolves. We also saw them swimming. Wolf wise, the resident alpha pair were viewed in all their glory, with the female being observed for a long time. This is in perfect morning light. What a night!

Sincere thanks to John Wright for his amendments and edits regarding the grammatical content of this news item. A professional contribution that is warmly appreciated by EB5!