fThe porcupine came in about a week old in June of 2009. A policeman kept finding him in the middle of LaSalle Rd, circling every few hours. He would get out of his car and direct the little one back down into the burrow ditch. About 8 pm his wife called me to tell me what had been going on all day. She and her husband offered to catch it and drive it up to me. I noticed its back leg was swollen. Took it to the Morningstar Vet clinic, where for the first time Dr. Bettye Hooley and staff xrayed a porcupine! They found a fractured pelvis. We thought he was a she at the time. Bettye felt that due to the nature of the fracture, the porcupine could have trouble giving birth. So, we decided it would be best for the porcupine to be released on my ranch, where as far as we know there are no porcupines.
The porcupine healed nicely. This was a rare time that I have named an animal, “Penny” only because I knew it would be around. I opened the cage door end of July. Penny went in and out. In the eves I would walk down into the canyon and find her. The last time I saw Penny was mid December, 2009. She went almost a mile to the nearest neighbor, thru two big canyons, where their dogs found her. Then, in mid Oct of 2010, 3 of my cows had quills in their noses and around their ankles. I had to put them in the chute to restrain them while I pulled quills. Later that eve I walked in the canyon, and walked right up to Penny! How did I do that? We had not seen each other in 10 months. He turned to me and began grunting and squweeling in delight, climbing right into my arms! He sniffed me all over. This is when I realized Penny was a He, as he exhibited a 2 inch long penis. We walked back up to the house, he running (which is slow compared to so many other animals) I gave him some apple slices. He was very excited. I saw him again the next night, but haven’t seen him since.
Porcupines are born with soft quills. They harden within 24 hours of birth, and are able to defend themselves. The first two days were difficult for feeding a bottle. I had to come up with something that I could put around him to hold him still so I could get him to take a bottle. A heavy duty plastic freezer bag worked the best. The quills did not attach to it like they did canvas, leather, etc. A porcupine’s quills take 8 months to grow back after they have come out. The quills are the animals’ only defense. Native Americans used to bite the ends off, and string them on garments—the quills are hollow. The black end has a barbed tip.
Some people feel that once a quill is stuck in a dog, it comes out easier by snipping off the end, letting the pressure out of the quill. I have not found this to be true, because usually the dog is so freaked out, more pain is caused by the quill clipping, exciting the dog further making harder to restrain to pull quills. A veterinarian can sedate the dogs that have lots of quills in them. Porcupines CANNOT throw their quills. The quill must come in contact with something in order to stick.
Porcupine babies live on the ground, with the mother coming down out of the trees at night to nurse the baby and graze. By the time they are a couple of months old, they can climb trees. The number one cause of death for a porcupine is falling. Mtn Lions and Pine Martens are their #1 predators. They are able to flip the porcupine, ripping open the soft belly to feed from there. In the winter, porcupines feed on the inner bark of trees and eat mistletoe. They are strict omnivores (vegetarians).
The porcupine healed nicely. This was a rare time that I have named an animal, “Penny” only because I knew it would be around. I opened the cage door end of July. Penny went in and out. In the eves I would walk down into the canyon and find her. The last time I saw Penny was mid December, 2009. She went almost a mile to the nearest neighbor, thru two big canyons, where their dogs found her. Then, in mid Oct of 2010, 3 of my cows had quills in their noses and around their ankles. I had to put them in the chute to restrain them while I pulled quills. Later that eve I walked in the canyon, and walked right up to Penny! How did I do that? We had not seen each other in 10 months. He turned to me and began grunting and squweeling in delight, climbing right into my arms! He sniffed me all over. This is when I realized Penny was a He, as he exhibited a 2 inch long penis. We walked back up to the house, he running (which is slow compared to so many other animals) I gave him some apple slices. He was very excited. I saw him again the next night, but haven’t seen him since.
Porcupines are born with soft quills. They harden within 24 hours of birth, and are able to defend themselves. The first two days were difficult for feeding a bottle. I had to come up with something that I could put around him to hold him still so I could get him to take a bottle. A heavy duty plastic freezer bag worked the best. The quills did not attach to it like they did canvas, leather, etc. A porcupine’s quills take 8 months to grow back after they have come out. The quills are the animals’ only defense. Native Americans used to bite the ends off, and string them on garments—the quills are hollow. The black end has a barbed tip.
Some people feel that once a quill is stuck in a dog, it comes out easier by snipping off the end, letting the pressure out of the quill. I have not found this to be true, because usually the dog is so freaked out, more pain is caused by the quill clipping, exciting the dog further making harder to restrain to pull quills. A veterinarian can sedate the dogs that have lots of quills in them. Porcupines CANNOT throw their quills. The quill must come in contact with something in order to stick.
Porcupine babies live on the ground, with the mother coming down out of the trees at night to nurse the baby and graze. By the time they are a couple of months old, they can climb trees. The number one cause of death for a porcupine is falling. Mtn Lions and Pine Martens are their #1 predators. They are able to flip the porcupine, ripping open the soft belly to feed from there. In the winter, porcupines feed on the inner bark of trees and eat mistletoe. They are strict omnivores (vegetarians).