Erethizon dorsatum Porcupine signs have been easily spotted in the woods lately. The bark has been gnawed off a number of trees where a Porcupine has been feeding and it’s hard to miss the accumulated droppings at the base of it’s favorite hangouts.

Gnawed Bark

I’ve been searching for this rodent a couple of days now in a very old Sugar Bush. Most of the Maple trees are now hollow and this quill pig (Latin meaning) was giving me the slip. It was either hidden in a fork of a tree or in one of the hollows.

I guess curiosity got the better part of this Porcupine today when I spotted it peeking out at me.

This porcupine wasn’t the least bit disturbed at my presence. It knew as well as I that I wasn’t about to attempt climbing the 30 feet or so to it’s resting place. In fact it had a look about it that seemed to dare me to go ahead and stick my nose in it’s business.

With my tree climbing days behind me I had to pass on the dare. I asked Pookey if she wanted to try and not surprising she gave me a glance as if to say: You must be as smart as you look I’ve always felt I’ve been smiled upon from above and with one more look up I confirmed my feelings. All God’s creatures great and small learn to laugh when I’m around.

The last photo is linked to a larger size (1024 x 768) without the smile. The Porcupine is still staring at me as my new desktop wallpaper. If you want a second cousin of a rat on your desktop go ahead and use either of the 2 linked photos.

• Wildlife
• Comments(9)

9 Responses

1. mimmylynn Says:
   February 26th, 2009 at 7:11 pm

   This was a real treat. I have never seen a porcupine in real life before. And he does have a mischievous smile, doesn’t he?
   mimmylynn,

   Hopefully you will meet one someday. Just remember not to pet it.

2. rainfield Says:
   February 26th, 2009 at 7:37 pm

   I bet you got the best picture of the day with porcupine smiling, and you will be smiling all the way from day to night and in your dream as well.
   I shall be if I am you.

   rainfield,
   Now that I found the porcupine and returned with photos I don’t have to dream about it any longer. I’m smiling because I don’t have to hike back there any more and can go explore in a different direction.

3. HoneyB Says:
   February 26th, 2009 at 8:25 pm

   I like the porcupine, but I have to say that is a beautiful dog!

   HoneyB,
   And Pook has a wonderful personality too.

4. Ratty Says:
   February 27th, 2009 at 12:15 am

   I’m obviously more partial to rats, but the porcupine is really cool. I never knew fur was so dark. I have been promising myself to get pictures of animals like this, but since then I’ve seen nothing. I’ve seen a hollow tree just like that one though, so I wonder if there is something living in there. I need to get out a little more.

   Ratty,
   What do you mean, you’re out everyday on some adventure. I guess the real problem is the nature parks have a limited amount of nature in them.

5. Pam/Digging Says:
   February 27th, 2009 at 12:59 am

   Cool pics. I’ve never seen a porcupine except in a zoo. Looks like they could kill a tree pretty easily though.

   Pam,
   It happens but they don’t kill trees as often as you’d think looking at that gnawed one. They put a big hurt on trees but most survive with nasty scars.

6. kerri Says:
   February 27th, 2009 at 11:11 am

   John, that’s twice you’ve made me laugh out loud this morning.
   Once at your comment on my cat post…picturing your kitties jealous reaction to your cuteness response
   And now at this post.
   How neat that you found the hedgehog and managed to get such great shots. The look on your dog’s face (and your caption) is priceless. And who knew a hedgehog had a sense of humor?
   Thanks for the chuckles

   kerri,
   I wasn’t kidding when I said my cats were giving me a hard time. They really did seem to know I found ‘replacements’ for them

   I was wearing my white rubber barn boots. There isn’t a living thing that won’t smile when they see me in them.

7. Monica Says:
   February 28th, 2009 at 1:20 pm

   I had no idea porcupines were arboreal. Did you know groundhogs also climb?? (but as their name suggests, they burrow int he ground, not in trees.) Dunno if you have them there, but you can have mine. I’ll trade you for a porc. Your dog looks pretty wise indeed.

   Monica,
   I have way too many axle busting burrows in the hay fields to prove groundhogs exist. Be careful what you wish for – Porcupines have a craving for plywood (salts used in manufacturing) and will gnaw / eat it away before you know what happened.

   Pookey is smart enough to make me fetch.

8. scarlet Says:
   March 1st, 2009 at 10:04 am

   You are very interesting!!

   scarlet,
   Thank you. Hopefully I haven’t been ‘interesting’ enough to scare you away and will see you around again.

9. rich fell Says:
   September 12th, 2009 at 6:27 pm

   We have a porcupine who quills our boxer dog every two weeks. How can we track him or set a trap to get him.

   p.s. whats the best way to cook a porcupine?

   rich,
   Have you ever thought about getting a smarter dog?

   I’ve never tracked one. The tell tale sign of a huge pile of droppings around the base of a tree usually gives their hangout away.

   Never trapped one either. I suppose a haveaheart trap would work. I imagine something salty would make a good bait. One reason they come around is usually they’ve found something salty to gnaw on.

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