Photographing Wolverines in Finland: A Winter Wildlife Gamble

In March 2025, Christine and I took a huge gamble: we went on a wildlife photography holiday to see a single, elusive species—one that is secretive and predominantly active between dusk and dawn. The animal in question was the Wolverine, and the location was the forests of Finland.

To add further jeopardy, we chose to visit at the tail end of winter. At this time of year, biodiversity in these northern forests is at its lowest, with few other species active. But the timing had its advantages—local brown bears were still hibernating, making Wolverines easier to spot, as they are not scared away by their larger competitors. Perhaps an even greater draw was the setting: the Taiga forest, arguably at its most beautiful under a thick, snowy blanket.

We had chosen to visit the Bear Centre near Kajaani, which usually focuses on bear photography, offering nearly 30 custom-built hides around a series of remote lakes near the Russian border. To reach the centre, we were picked up by its owner, Ari Sääski, and driven 90 km along roads increasingly buried under snow.

We were fortunate with the conditions. An unusually warm spring had led to an early thaw, but a sudden cold snap brought heavy snowfall just before our arrival. The entire region was transformed into a pristine winter wonderland.

On arrival, we quickly changed into our winter gear, prepared our cameras, and had a late lunch before heading out for the first of seven nights in the hide. Due to the deep powder, we had to use snowshoes for the 15-minute walk to Hide 27a, pulling a pulk (a small sled) with our gear.

Leaving the Bear Centre for the Wolverine Hide, and beautiful sunsets over the frozen lake at hide 27a

The hides are compact but functional, equipped with two bunk beds, a basic toilet setup (a bucket beneath a frame with a toilet seat), two chairs, four camera ports, and heavy mounting plates for gimbals or tripod heads. A particularly thoughtful feature was a heated viewing window to prevent frosting.

The first few nights were cold, with temperatures between -13 and -18°C. Fortunately, we had paid a little extra for a spirit-burning heater. It was surprisingly effective, making the cold quite tolerable. Still, we had to ration its use on the coldest nights to ensure we had enough fuel left for the mornings.

As for the Wolverines, we were not disappointed. Over the seven nights and mornings, we saw up to four individuals. Most appeared after sunset, when the light was challenging, but on a couple of magical occasions, an adult male visited in bright morning sunshine. This particular Wolverine had been named Spotty by the locals, but we affectionately renamed him Twiglet—on our first sighting, he had a twig tangled in his tail that dragged behind him as he moved.

Our sightings followed a consistent and thrilling pattern. Each time, the Wolverine would emerge from the forest on the far side of the frozen lake in front of our hide. After a cautious pause to scan the tree line, it would lollop across the snow-covered ice toward us, stopping abruptly for another look before continuing its advance. We had been warned that Wolverines are easily startled by sound, so having them approach so closely was heart-stopping.

Photographing or filming them is no easy task—their movements are erratic and surprisingly quick. But occasionally, they would stop, lift their heads, and stare directly into the hide. Thankfully, modern mirrorless cameras offer a silent shutter option, which helped us avoid disturbing them with the noise of rapid shooting.

Each visit lasted just two to three minutes. During that time, the Wolverine would search the snow for scraps of meat that had been scattered in advance. Once found, it would bury its face in the snow, retrieve what looked like a snowball, and turn tail, running back across the lake. We assumed it either stashed the meat, ate it in private, or took it to a den. Five to ten minutes later, it would return and repeat the process. After three or four such visits, that was it—for either the evening or the morning. Occasionally, our time-lapse cameras would capture visits overnight, especially when we were filming the aurora.

After 16 hours in the hide, we headed back to the Bear Centre, where Ari and breakfast were waiting for us. Following a quick debrief of the night's activity with Ari, we tucked into a large and varied breakfast. The food at the Bear Centre was excellent. As vegetarians, we enjoyed a diverse and tasty selection of meals—so much so that it would be easy to put on weight given the generous portions!

Once breakfast was over, the rest of the day was free until lunch at 3 pm, followed by a return to the hide at 4 pm. We took the opportunity to photograph some of the other wildlife, both from hide 27a and from a bird hide much closer to the centre. As previously mentioned, species diversity is limited in March, but Red Squirrels were active around the centre and bird hide. Although their coats were disappointingly grey in colour, they were still beautiful creatures to watch and photograph.

We found plenty of animal tracks around the area, especially those of hare and fox. However, we only spotted a fox once, on the final morning, across the frozen lake. Despite seeing foxes almost daily in the UK, I had hoped to observe these ones at closer range, especially in their striking winter coats.

Birdlife was a little limited, but we were excited to see Crested and Willow Tits—both quite novel for us. Common Jays and Hooded Crows are abundant in the area, and both made for interesting photography subjects, especially since Jays are notoriously skittish in the UK. It was a real treat to see them up close. Other birds included Great and Blue Tits, Common Redpolls, and Black Grouse, the latter of which we spotted while out running along the road from the centre to the main road.

While the opportunities to photograph the Wolverine might seem quite limited for 16 hours in a hide, and to be fair, they were, it's important not to forget the aurora borealis. Again, we were extremely fortunate to have incredible aurora activity on several of the clear nights when we were in the hide. I had a few chances to take some time-lapse shots of the northern lights, but much to my annoyance, I missed the focus on the most spectacular night when the aurora activity was sensational for 8 hours. I had set it correctly at the beginning of the night, but somehow I must have knocked when I checked everything was OK at around midnight. Still the display was so sensational that I still made a video of it. As they say, you live and learn. I've linked the aurora video below.

A multicoloured aurora

The aurora borealis from the night of March 22nd to 23rd. This was the real deal. The time-lapse covers 8 hours.