Wolverine at home in 'Wolverine State'

A Michigan teacher wants people to know that a rare wolverine roaming Michigan's Thumb isn't a threat to humans.

The animal was first videotaped in Huron County in February 2004 -- the first-ever documented sighting of a wolverine in the state of Michigan, the Bay City Times reported.

Jeffrey J. Ford, a Deckerville High School teacher known as "Wolverine Guy," has shot photos of the wolverine using heat-in-motion sensors.

He spotted the wolverine in person in April of this year when he and another man set out venison at one of their bait sites.

The animal charged at them through the brush, Ford told the newspaper.

"At first, I thought 'I'm gonna get to see a wolverine, I'm gonna get to see a wolverine, I'm gonna get to see a wolverine,"' Ford said. "But as he moved in, I thought 'I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die.'

Ford said the wolverine got within 15 yards of the men before he bolted the other way.

"He thought we were a raccoon or a red-tailed hawk, but he's extremely afraid of humans," he said.

Copyright 2005 by United Press International