By Tom Knudson, Sacramento Bee

“Picture a weasel – and most of us can do that, for we have met the little demon of destruction, that small atom of insensate courage. … Multiply that mite by some fifty times and you have the likeness of a wolverine.”

Ernest Thompson Seton — “Lives of Game Animals, Vol. II,” 1925 – 1927

He wanders long distances at night, alone.

He curls up under wind-stunted trees at the timberline.

And from a distance, he can hear the rumble of traffic along Interstate 80.

But almost no one has ever seen him.

“He’s gone before you even have a clue he’s there,” said Amanda Shufelberger, a wildlife biologist with Sierra Pacific Industries who has tracked the animal across the Sierra Nevada since 2008. “He does not want to see you.”

Three years after the discovery of a wolverine in the Tahoe National Forest north of Truckee, the elusive creature continues to roam the region, defying expectations, delighting many and stirring calls to find him a mate.

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