You’re looking at the business end of a varmint that no one should be this close to. However, he crossed our path in a parking lot yesterday without so much as a “pardon me” and we quickly gave way.
Yes, this is a Porcupine’s rear end, not the most beautiful thing that you’ll see today. These animals have front ends that are much more interesting and some even think they are cute:
Leighton Archive Image
Nonetheless, we and many others feel that Porcupines are detestable. The State of Maine hunting regulations allow them to be shot on sight without limit, anytime. They kill valuable trees, there are too many of them, and they provide no human benefit. When threatened, they attack with amazingly fast swats of their tails, which contain thousands of loosely fitted barbed quills. (They don’t “throw” quills.) The result of a Porcupine attack can be misery for a dog, cow, horse, or (rarely) human.
Leighton Archive Image
The only effective natural control of these quilled animals seems to be Fishers, which are large weasels that appear to be in short supply here these days. A Fisher (sometimes called a Fisher Cat) will circle the Porcupine until the spiny prey gets confused and/or dizzy. Then, the Fisher will leap in front of the varmint and bite it in its non-quilled face and forehead, often piercing the brain and virtually always stunning the porcupine so that its soft stomach can be attacked.
We confess that we are Porcupine haters and were aware of the Fisher’s successful face-biting technique when this Porcupine rudely brushed us aside yesterday. However, we decided that it would be inappropriate for us to use the Fisher technique in a public parking lot where children were running around. Lucky for that Porcupine. (Brooklin, Maine)