Another Porcupine

Yesterday I noticed some gnaw marks on the cabin decking and placed a "keep-alive" trap next to the deck. This morning I found (hopefully) the cause of the gnaw marks, a porcupine. We have lived in this neighborhood for over 40 years and during that time I can count my porcupine encounters on one hand. This is my second porcupine this year.



Some porcupine quills left under the trap.



This porcupine was lucky and qualified for a relocation program. Later in the day, the porcupine was released on one of our other wooded properties a few miles away.

Porcupines

I never know what will stop by to visit me while I'm at our barn property. I was working in my vegetable garden when I noticed a young porcupine taking a leisurely stroll on the driveway. I quickly retrieved my camera from the truck and it soon became a foot race with the camera shy porcupine.



Porcupines are not known as long distance runners and this one selected climbing a nearby tree as better option than a foot race.

Cute and Cuddly (No)

While spraying some apple trees behind our barn I noticed what looked like a very fat, hairy woodchuck in some weeds.



The "fat woodchuck" turned out to be a young porcupine.



After several minutes of attempting to pose the porcupine for a photograph I let it proceed from the field to the woods where it climbed the first small tree it found.



A photo of some quills in my boot after attempting to pose the porcupine for a photograph.