Behind the Photo: A Wolverine Ode to Joy

How photographer Gretchen Kay Stuart snagged her frame of a wolverine mid-romp in Washington state

By Delaney McPherson // Photo by Gretchen Kay Stuart
Wildlife Photos
Sep 26, 2024

THERE ARE FEWER THAN 300 WOLVERINES in the Lower 48, making photos of them in the wild exceptionally rare. So when photographer Gretchen Kay Stuart captured this image in 2023 in Washington state’s Cascade mountains, she knew it was special.

“She performed a string of playful poses,” Stuart says of the wolverine, named Joni by researchers. Stuart believes Joni may have been goofing around with her kits, off camera.

Snapping a shot of these animals requires patience, as well as knowledge of their movements. To get this photo, Stuart set up a camera trap near a wolverine monitoring station run by Cascades Carnivore Project.

“The only way you’re likely to get photos of wild wolverines is by working with biologists,” she says. “You have to predict behavior ... set up the camera and focus it based on where you believe the animal will pass through. It’s very strategic, and the failure rate is high.”

Wolverines were listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in November 2023, but Stuart hopes that showing their softer side will raise support for them.

“Wolverines pose no threat to humans. They have families; they love their offspring,” she says. “We need to change the public’s perception of these so-called solitary, vicious weasels.” See more of Stuart’s work.