A Prickly Situation

The 'perp' made no attempt to hide it's trail of destruction.  I was determined to find its whereabouts so I carefully scanned the forest but there was nothing in sight.

As I continued along the trail, I found more destruction.  How could this much damage be done in less than two days?  

There were tracks everywhere except the ones that I was looking for.  How was I to find the perpetrator?  That nocturnal, vegetarian, rodent was really busy.

I found it hard to believe that so many trees could be ravaged over a two day period.  There must have been an overnight porcupine party.

Tender bark is a delicacy for them. They certainly were not fussy about which trees were the snack of choice.  None of the trees were safe from the incisor teeth.  There were birch, willow and poplar trees sporting bare patches.

It was really something to see how many trees were nibbled over a 48 hour period.  There had to be more than one porcupine working on stripping that much bark.  I knew if I kept my eyes on the tree tops I would eventually find one.  

 
Busted.  There was Mr. Prickly in a tree top close to the end of the trail.  We ended up having a stare-down.  As I watched, I wondered how such an awkward looking animal is able to 'go out on a limb' to eat the bark on the tender ends of the branches.

I sure wouldn't want to mess with one.  A common porcupine can have up to 30,000 quills!  Could you imagine being hit by that many?  You would feel like a pin cushion.

Body heat makes the quills swell which is why they are so difficult to remove when another animal happens to be on the receiving end of a porcupine's anger.  I'm in pain just thinking about it.

I've seen many a porcupine waddling across the road in the dark.  My headlamps catching them in time for me to slow.  There are often times that I see those that didn't make it across in time as well.

They are kind of cute in their own special way.  Too bad they are so destructive.