Watch a Reindeer Battle a Vicious Wolverine in a Blizzard

Wolverines are terrifying, tenacious creatures. They are not afraid of going after animals much larger than them. They’re incredibly agile, their sense of smell is ridiculously acute, and they don’t mind hunting in blizzard conditions. In fact, they prefer it.

They’re not delicate about it either. If they find a frozen carcass, be it an elk or deer, they get to chomping — through bone and all. Why nibble meat off the bone when it can just devour the animal whole? At first glance, wolverines resemble bears. In photos only though. In real life, you can appreciate how small they are.

But they’re ruthless and their size does not stop them from hunting prey much larger than them. That’s the case in this video. It starts off and immediately, you feel the chill. Even if you’re out by the beach enjoying the sun on your back, you can practically feel the blistering cold as you watch the blizzard conditions take up your screen.

There are a few dead trees sticking up out of feet of snow and dead center, there is some commotion. The video is taken from a distance, which makes it hard to make out what’s happening at first. Then, subtitles come in with the assist. A man behind the camera says, “He’s taking that reindeer.”

With some context, you can make out that a reindeer has a wolverine attached to its head, and it’s trying desperately to shake it off, spinning in circles in the snow. “Yes, he has taken a throat grip on it,” read the subtitles. The cameraman zooms in as a woman says, “Poor thing.” There’s nothing they can do but witness this attack — and capture some of the rarest footage of a wolverine hunting.

At one point, the reindeer manages to get the wolverine off its body, but that relief lasts barely a second. The wolverine scrambles back to its feet and gets right back up onto the reindeer to continue the attack. The reindeer falls, manages to get back up, and continues spinning in circles, surely suffering as this wolverine tries to take it down and keep it down.

The blizzard conditions pick up, blurring the sight of the two in this life-and-death fight. The reindeer again manages to buck the wolverine off, and they face off for a few moments before the wolverine attaches itself to the reindeer’s head again. The reindeer’s survival instinct is strong, and it even manages to stomp on the wolverine at least once.

Just when you think the reindeer is down for the count, it gets right back up again. The video ends while they’re still fighting but the caption explains the reindeer barely managed an escape. However, its injuries were severe. It would be no surprise if that wolverine found it later, weakened or dead, and still made a meal out of it.

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