I told him that yeah I had seen it, however I wasn't sure it was a porcupine because it was quite aways out and if it was it must be dead, it hadn't moved in the 3 or 4 days that I'd seen it.
Well Pie had seen it walking not 30 minutes before, and probably about 500 feet from where I'd always seen it. It was indeed alive and a porcupine!
After a few more days I was looking into who I could contact to check on it though. You see I was getting pretty worried. It never moved more than a couple hundred feet from where we saw it, in fact it rarely moved at all. And when he did it was more or less wandering in circles.
Then I decided to get some pics of it. He was out in the field so I zoomed my little point and shoot as far as it would go...
And it worked!! He started walking around, and while he meandered in loops he also made his way toward me. Oh wait, was that a good idea? lol
Like I said, I was getting worried about the little guy... he always stayed in the same basic area. No shelter (those trees in the pics are waaaay in the background). I don't know anything about these pokey little guys but I did find it weird that he'd basically "hide" between a couple twigs sticking out of the snow to sleep. Seriously, I'd watch for him at night on my way home and he'd be there. Even parking with my lights flashing on him and tapping the horn got no reaction. I thought that was a bit odd, in my mind I thought a wild animal would react to something like that.
can you see him?
Just when I was going to try calling someone Pete came home one day and said, "Hey! The little dude's on the other side of the road now! He's moving on!" I was pretty happy and when we went in to work sure enough, he was on the other side of the road, heading west. The next day he was further west into that field and from then on I haven't seen him again. Happy travels little guy!
**if anyone has knowledge about these pointy little guys feel free to share** :)
Cute little buggers!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you got those pictures. What a cute little critter!! Strange though that it didn't move much. I hope that is normal. Someone who lives near me has one for a pet. it is really little, and it is a light brown color....
ReplyDeleteHe is very cute, but wouldn't want to come into contact with one of them! Interesting that he didn't really wander too far. I don't know anything about porcupines, we don't have them here. Cool pictures though!
ReplyDeleteMy only experience is pulling porcupine quills out of one of my horse's muzzles. I can tell you, that's the closest I want to get. I have heard they are a bit lumbering in their movement though. With defences like that they don't have to move fast.
ReplyDeleteGlad the little bugger is ok and really glad he's in another country. LOL
It doesn't seem normal that it would have stayed in one spot for so long. They are pretty slow moving, but usually kind of keep ambling along if they are moving from one tree grove to another. So yea, that is a little strange.
ReplyDeleteThey are generally nocturnal animals (do most of their 'moving' at night) and for all their defensive quills, pretty timid.
A CountryCowgirl was telling me that a friend of hers raised one as a pet and it was actually pretty cool. I do know if you stroke them from front to back they feel pretty neat...almost soft. They do quite well in captivity.
Unfortunately, they are prone to killing trees (because the mostly survive on bark) and in SD, we are a little protective of the few trees we have. When there gets to be an overabundance of them, we do shoot them. I always save the hair, quills and claws for projects.
Oh! Poor guy! Glad he finally moved on and quit worrying you. Hope he stays well!
ReplyDeleteHow odd that he stayed in such a small area for so long. Perhaps he was eating the grasses sticking out of the snow.
ReplyDelete