WiseAcre Gardens

north of the adirondacks – wildflowers & perennials that survive winters colder than my wife's feet


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Porcupine Tree

Posted by WiseAcre on Feb 1st, 2010
2010
Feb 1

An old sugar maple tree provides room and board for a prickly rodent. The gnawed bark is a sure sign a porcupine has been dining out. Or should I say up?

Porcupine Tree

As I positioned myself to get a good look the porcupine climbed up where the sun don’t shine. I caught sight of the tail just as it disappeared up the hole. Sounds painful doesn’t it?

Porcupine hole

There was no sense waiting for the porcupine to come back out so I moved on. It didn’t take long before I stuck my nose in another place it didn’t belong. A hollow log was too tempting to resist.

Rotting log

I thought the barely visible white things might have been some sort of fungus. I’m sure we can all imagine a number of reasons why sticking your arm into the hollow of a rotting log is NOT a good idea. I are smart so I used my camera to see what it really was.

hollow log

Looks like I need to add porcupine booby-traps to the list.

Porcupine quills

A couple of photos from last year:

As cute and cuddly as porcupines are it’s best to leave them alone. Their quills aren’t the only things to avoid.

Porcupine Teeth

Do you have a sudden urge to get up and go brush your teeth?

Porcupine foot pad and claws

Or would you prefer a back rub?

6 Responses

  1. cindee Says:

    What a cute little critter. He must not watch the teeth whitening commercials on t.v.(-:
    I remember last year when you saw the animal in the tree and it looked stuck.
    Best not to put arms/hands into holes you are not familiar with(-:

  2. jj Says:

    waaaaa!!! this is when i remember i am a city boy,lol, great pictures!!!

  3. rainfield Says:

    I think the other way round. I’ll wait for the porcupine to re-appear.

    I’ll kill him with my camera.

  4. Monica the Garden Faerie Says:

    Those teeth really freak me out. I think groundhog teeth are similarly yellow. And squirrel pee is reddish brown. Gotta love nature!

  5. Elephant's Eye Says:

    And I thought porcupines were an African animal! How did you achieve the pictures of teeth and claws? Was it, is it still, alive?

  6. Ratty Says:

    After following your blog for so long I often find myself looking in hollow logs. I remember to keep my distance though. I never find anything as cool as porcupine quills though.

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