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Index of Subjects I've recently read a few interesting points on chance sightings in McKelvey et al. (2008; BioScience 58(6): 549--555; available online at http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/journals/pnw_2008_mckelvey001.pdf ). It's a fun read, and along with several thoughtful comments, they consider a wolverine case study (along with that of the Ivory-billed woodpecker "rediscovery"). Among their ideas, they suggest that one's prior beliefs are extremely important in our willingness to accept or reject anecdotal data (e.g. Ivory-bill vs. Loch Ness Monster), and, importantly, that even if a species has been extirpated long ago, there's still going to be a consistent, but small "false-positive" rate. Over time, the accumulated "sightings" can become convincingly numerous, even though they are well within what might be expected if the odd false-positive were to happen from time to time. I have zero context or knowledge to comment on the specific Nova Scotia wolverine situation, but I wanted to share this paper (which is not very technical at all -- check it out!), and to mention the author's closing suggestion (see Figure 2) that we insist upon very high qualities of evidence (carcass, DNA) when the species is expected to be extirpated, before we take a "sighting" too much to heart. --Bob Farmer On Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 12:14, Andrew Hebda <HEBDAAJ@gov.ns.ca> wrote: > Hi Angela > > We've only got 2 early records of possible Wolverine in the region... Based on the nearest established populations in the Gaspe, suspect that those two were extra-limital. Any chance for images or estimate of size? > > Cheers > > Andrew > > A Hebda > Nova Scotia Museum Zoology Collections . > >>>> Randy Lauff <randy.lauff@gmail.com> 7/18/2011 3:02 pm >>> > I don't think wolverines were ever part of our fauna here. Fisher are much > more secretive to be spotted "numerous times." Not knowing the extent of > knowledge of your friend doesn't help...but there are a number of > possibilities that come to mind if she is a a novice...but readily dismissed > if she isn't. Ground Hog? Young bear? Even, gulp, a huge skunk...check out > the pelage colourations of the two: > > http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Wolverine_on_rock.jpg > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Striped_Skunk_(Mephitis_mephitis)_DSC_0030.jpg > > I do not mean to sound demeaning by suggesting these common animals, but > it's hard to imagine what else it could be. However, if we had a peacock > escapee...maybe there really is a wolverine out there? Anyone missing any > pets? :) > > Randy > _________________________________ > RF Lauff > Way in the boonies of > Antigonish County, NS. > > > On 18 July 2011 14:16, AngelaJoudrey <aljoudrey@eastlink.ca> wrote: > >> Hi there. >> >> A girlfriend of mine is fairly sure that she has seen numerous times a >> wolverine in her yard. She called DNR and they "pushed" her towards a >> fisher, however she is not happy with that comparision. >> >> Does any one have any experience or sightings or stories re: wolverines in >> NS? >> >> Thanks >> >> Angela >> > >
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