It’s got the makings of an animated feature film — an odd-couple alliance between an energetic wolverine and a clever raven, as they fight for survival in Canada’s North.
Their prize? A hapless hare.
Jason Benjamin and his co-workers recently witnessed the unlikely triple-species showdown on a remote stretch of the Alaska Highway near Beaver Creek, Yukon.
“I’ve seen a lot of things, but never seen anything like this,” Benjamin said.
He managed to catch most of the wild chase on video and it’s already been viewed thousands of times on social media.
Benjamin says he and his co-workers had just finished a day of road work and were driving along when they spotted some kind of commotion up ahead.
“We got closer and there was wolverine, it was chasing a rabbit, and there was a raven that looked like he was helping him [the wolverine],” he recalled.
Benjamin — a passenger in the vehicle — whipped out his phone and started recording.
The minute-long video shows the wolverine booking it straight down the highway after the hare. Occasionally, the raven swoops into view and appears to run interference, slowing the rodent down.
“He wants to have a meal too, he’s helping him out,” one of the men says on video.
The video ends with the hare still alive, but the raven and wolverine appear to have him cornered. Benjamin said he stopped recording because a transport truck was waiting behind them on the road.
You can probably guess the hare’s fate, though.
“After I stopped shooting it, the rabbit went running past us. And that raven went after him and I turned around and looked — and that raven went down and he actually got him,” Benjamin said.
“He just pretty much pounced on it. I think the rabbit was pretty tired, because he was running for a while there.”
Benjamin later posted his video online and soon his phone was “going off like crazy” as people reacted and shared it.
“I had to put the volume right down because I had to get up early in the morning,” he said.
He’s pretty happy to have witnessed such an unusual bit of natural drama. He said he and his co-workers were “in awe” watching it unfold.
“We were pretty lucky to catch that. And it’s just like a once-in-a-lifetime thing to see,” he said.
“You just never know what you’re going to see. Just keep your eyes open and, you know, keep your camera ready and you just never know.”
More Stories
Satellite built by N.B. students not responding a week after entering Earth’s orbit | Globalnews.ca
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter down but definitely not out | CBC Radio