Porcupine

Ann McRae · March 18, 2007

Last Saturday, I looked out the window of the family room and saw a critter meandering across the snow. Double take, and I realize it is a porcupine! Tell the kids "Look, a porcupine" ..."Mom, get your camera" ....."Okay - go bring the dog into the house"...so by the time all this is under control, and the lens is switched, the porcupine is up the tree!!! Really! So, here is the most recent, exotic, visitor to my yard:
Peek:

Is this my good side?

Nap time:

He spent the rest of the day in the tree, and came out to eat the compost after dark!

Perspective, he was about 15 feet up there:

and the snow back there is still about 2 feet deep.

ann

Maestro · March 18, 2007

Nice shots. They are crisp just like the day I suppose.

That guy is pretty good climber. I didn't realize porcupines could do that.

Dick on Aruba · March 18, 2007

Nice captures Ann.

Thanks for sharing,

Dick.

dbaker1221 · March 18, 2007

good captures!!

little guy is cute . kind a want to hug it.....well...maybe not:D

Albert Dickson · March 18, 2007

What an awsome treat.
Pretty cool that you have such interesting visitors to your yard. Great images too!

Harryb · March 18, 2007

Good shots Ann but all that white stuff is depressing.

I don't think we have had any porcupine shots aroun here recently.

Ann McRae · March 19, 2007

Hi maestro
I hadn't thought about porcupines climbing either, but it is a good way to stay out of preys reach in mid day.

Thanks

ann

ShepsMom · March 19, 2007

Great capture, i didn't know they can do that either. I'll just join the club.
Crisp and clear with great details. Thanks for posting this shot!!

Jim Victory · March 19, 2007

Nice find Ann!

Great captures as well.

Nikolai · March 19, 2007

Ann,
Nice shots and great story!

I never knew porcupines can climb the trees (let alone ever saw one IRL)!

Cheers!

Ric Grupe · March 19, 2007

Nice catch, Ann.

Not something you see everyday!:D

Ann McRae · March 19, 2007

Thanks Dick.

ann

Ann McRae · March 19, 2007

Dave - porcupines are not known for cuddliness....

Thanks

ann

dbaker1221 wrote:

good captures!! little guy is cute . kind a want to hug it.....well...maybe not:D

raptorcaptor · March 19, 2007

That must have been a fun finding a porcupine in your yard!

Ann McRae · March 19, 2007

Hi Albert

It IS neat. We live on the edge of the city, still have fields around us but they will be developed this summer. To the north and west of us is the river, so we should always have a bit of wildlife around.

I do really feel priviledged to share my space with all of the critters that visit.

Thanks
ann

Albert Dickson wrote:

Pretty cool that you have such interesting visitors to your yard. Great images too!

Ann McRae · March 19, 2007

C'mon Harry, admit it - you miss the snow!!!

Boy, wish I were in a position to miss the stuff! I'm just hoping it leaves for a while!

Thanks, harry

ann

Harryb wrote:

Good shots Ann but all that white stuff is depressing. I don't think we have had any porcupine shots aroun here recently.

Ann McRae · March 20, 2007

Thanks Marina.

ann

ShepsMom wrote:

Great capture, i didn't know they can do that either. I'll just join the club.
Crisp and clear with great details. Thanks for posting this shot!!

Ann McRae · March 20, 2007

Thank you, Jim. Seeing him in the daylight, and pretty much immobile, was really a treat.

ann

Jim Victory wrote:

Nice find Ann!

Great captures as well.

Ann McRae · March 20, 2007

Yep, porcupines can climb. Let me tell you the story about the call from my daughter last fall:
House is being reroofed, so there is a ladder out the front window. Daughter phones me "Mom, there is something huge and black climbing the ladder. Come home, I'm scared". Dog was chasing the porcupine and it used the ladder to escape! Luckily, no quills were fired!

ann

Nikolai wrote:

Nice shots and great story!

I never knew porcupines can climb the trees (let alone ever saw one IRL)!

Cheers!

Ann McRae · March 20, 2007

Thanks, Ric

Seems we will see this guy fairly often - he was back last night, in the compost. Guess he found a good food supply since we still have a foot of snow cover.

ann

Ric Grupe wrote:

Nice catch, Ann.

Not something you see everyday!:D

Ann McRae · March 20, 2007

Thanks, Glen. Fun enough that the 16 year old got a shot on his cell phone camera too!!!
ann

raptorcaptor wrote:

That must have been a fun finding a porcupine in your yard!

Nikolai · March 20, 2007

Ann,

Ann McRae wrote:

Yep, porcupines can climb. Let me tell you the story about the call from my daughter last fall:
House is being reroofed, so there is a ladder out the front window. Daughter phones me "Mom, there is something huge and black climbing the ladder. Come home, I'm scared". Dog was chasing the porcupine and it used the ladder to escape! Luckily, no quills were fired!

ann

Wow, quite a story! I guess they only look slow, cuddly and helpless, but they must be quite fierce IRL...

dogwood · March 20, 2007

Nah, porcupines aren't fierce at all. They also don't "shoot" quills. Quills can come off if disturbed, though, and get stuck in skin or whatever. But if you're standing say five feet away, they can't "shoot" them at you. Skunks can "shoot" at you, not porcupines. When porcupines become alarmed, their quills fan out (like a cat arching it's back) so it looks like the quills have gotten bigger and if you're reaching towards them, they can hit your hand, but they certainly don't "shoot".

I have a very friendly black lab who once came across a porcupine in the woods. The dog is really quite friendly and tried to make friends with lil' porky-- only the dog's technique was to lick the porcupine! Lucky, I had a Leatherman (with pliers) to pull quills out of his tongue. Those quills can become quite lodged and often can't be pulled out by hand.

I had another dog who found a porcupine, tried to bite it, ran back to me with a mouth full of quills, I pulled them out, and the dog ran right back to the porcupine to bite it again! Slow learner, that dog.

Ann McRae · March 21, 2007

dogwood wrote:

I had another dog who found a porcupine, tried to bite it, ran back to me with a mouth full of quills, I pulled them out, and the dog ran right back to the porcupine to bite it again! Slow learner, that dog.

rofl

Yeah, I know they cannot shoot their quills, but also that they aren't cuddly.

it seems this fellow is camped out in our yard - found him looking like a rock by another tree today. Hubby went to get a nice close look - was about 5 feet away and the porcupine didn't go away. He has a patch of missing quills and possibily an injury on his back.

ann

David_S85 · March 21, 2007

Hi Ann. I place myself in the crowd that also didn't know they could climb. I would have thought the quills might get stuck on the bark. But then I also once thought if a cat could climb a tree they had the wherewithall to get down the same tree (I think you had that happen too if my memory serves me). I recently say a coyote jump into a tree in our neighbor's yard. Nature holds many wonders.

Thanks for showing us your backyard critter. Hope his back is OK.

Ann McRae · March 22, 2007

Hi Dave

Yep, silly thing about that cat was, after spending somewhere in the range of 14 days in the tree the first time (eventually came down all by himself), he did it again (3 days) and again (overnight) all summer long....not the smartest cat in the world....

I hope the porcupine recovers as well. He seems quite healthy - he is quite large.

ann

David_S85 wrote:

Hi Ann. I place myself in the crowd that also didn't know they could climb. I would have thought the quills might get stuck on the bark. But then I also once thought if a cat could climb a tree they had the wherewithall to get down the same tree (I think you had that happen too if my memory serves me). I recently say a coyote jump into a tree in our neighbor's yard. Nature holds many wonders.

Thanks for showing us your backyard critter. Hope his back is OK.

Skippy · March 22, 2007

Ann McRae wrote:

Last Saturday, I looked out the window of the family room and saw a critter meandering across the snow. Double take, and I realize it is a porcupine! Tell the kids "Look, a porcupine" ..."Mom, get your camera" ....."Okay - go bring the dog into the house"...so by the time all this is under control, and the lens is switched, the porcupine is up the tree!!! Really! So, here is the most recent, exotic, visitor to my yard:
Peek:
Is this my good side?
Nap time:
He spent the rest of the day in the tree, and came out to eat the compost after dark!
Perspective, he was about 15 feet up there:
and the snow back there is still about 2 feet deep.
ann

Awwwwwww boy oh boy, Ann's got a zoo at her place whoohooo

So this guy must live close by hu? or are they nomadic ?
I've never really seen the face of a porcupine, they are quite a large animal, unlike the Australian Echidna which is very small.

Great shots Ann, hope he's still hanging around in September

..... Skippy
.

dallas · March 22, 2007

Very nice images, and very sharp (no pun intended) which must have been difficult considering the subject.

Ann McRae · March 23, 2007

Hi skippy

We will see critters, but I cannot guarantee the porcupine. They are pretty common road kill here. He is about twice the size of my really large cat.

ann

Ann McRae · March 23, 2007

Thanks, William
I was a little unsure about going out there, but the worst thign that happened was my boots filled up with snow, making my toes cold!

ann

Porcupine

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