Porcupine Damage

Spring has been a slow melt which is good because many parts of Saskatchewan are flooding even with the cold weather. I've been out taking pictures every day and am working on a neat 'flood' post for you but I wanted to show you photos of the porcupine since it looks like we've seen the last of him for this year.

Several times we found him in the trees, like this photo from April 7th:

But unlike the first day when he scooted down the tree and left, in the succeeding days he only froze when I stopped to take his picture. A good photo op, but no munching action.

On Apr 9th he moved to what would be his highest point before leaving us:

One time I looked out my kitchen window at the right moment to see him slip and hang by his front paws for a second before pulling himself back up. As you can see, he's such a cuddly looking animal...

Apparently the little critter was really out on this limb and at one point he crawled out so far Nelson saw the branch curve down until the porcupine scuttled back.

However, he left plenty of evidence of his visits behind in the manner of branches stripped of bark.

This isn't good because it leaves the tree susceptible to insects which bring disease. And that's if the tree manages to stay alive without its protective barrier against the harsh and drying prairie wind.

Here's the batch of wolf willows at the end of the driveway where we first saw the porcupine.

So, he may be a cute critter, but he's not cuddly and he certainly isn't nice!

If you want to relax for a minute, here's a video I took of some snow geese flying over my head on Apr 7th before the clouds hid the sun and the porcupine was in another tree close to the garage. Turn the volume up if you want to hear the geese. A special day - no wind!

Porcupine Climbing Down a Tree

He's ba-ack. Again, Nelson came home from work and said the porcupine was out in the trees. But this time instead of being on the ground, he was up in the tree. All I could see was a black bulge straight out from the kitchen window where the shelterbelt divides the yard from the prairie. Naturally, I grabbed my camera and scooted out the door. I stood in the driveway and filmed the porcupine as he climbed the 15 ft or so down to the ground.

Porcupine Climbing Down a Tree: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NK5Btmje28

This porcupine is starting to make a regular appearance on the farm. But why in a tree? If he carried a telescope, I'd suspect him of spying on me. Haha.

Anybody know what a porcupine eats?

Porcupine Patrol

The days are a rollercoaster of warmth and cold, which is what we need to avoid a spring flood. However, the critters are crawling out of hibernation as can be seen by this porcupine. On March 9th, Nelson came home and said there was porcupine a quarter mile away. By the time I grabbed my camera and jumped in his truck we were almost too late. This photo was taken approx 200 ft away and I zoomed in for it:

However, I managed to get a short video of it before it walked over the hill. Nelson had dropped me off and then drove on down the road to turn around, so the only sound on the video is that of the wind, the camera itself, and a few of my movements.

Here's the porcupine's meandering track as it started up the hill.






Five days later - on March 14th, Nelson came home and said their was a porcupine at the end of the driveway. I grabbed my camera, put my outerwear on and headed out, hoofing it. I could see him right from the house. If you look at my blog header, he was hiding in the bush that sits at the end of the driveway on the right side.

He wasn't moving and I wanted a good photo, so I yelled at him a couple times and wouldn't you know it - he turned his back on me! Although he was a good 30 ft away, I'm not in the habit of standing behind a porcupine, so I high-tailed it back to the house and let him have his peace.

What kind of creatures are coming out of hibernation or flying in where you live?