Kansas City daily journal., 1895-09-09
MAKING A MEAL OF poRCupiNE.
A Thrilling raic OF Adventure Away Down
East.

From Forest and Stream
A party of us left Providence late one
fall for two weeks camp in the woods
of Maine. One pleasant forenoon Nell
Tucker our guide asked me If didn't
want to still-hunt deer. We struck
trail some distance from camp. got a
shot at deer. missed and started back.
as ii was getting late. on the way back,
as we came down through a ravine out
into an opening. away up on a side hill
| noticed a tree with a peculiar bunch
of wart toward the top. | stopped and
tried to make out what 1t was. and Nell,
noticing me looking questioningly to-
ward the sky. asked what was up.
pointed the object out to him.
IT'S a bear cub sure as you're alive,
Sneak up on him, don't let him hear
YOU"
sneaked Nell didn't come. but, as I
afterward learned. sat on log shaking
his sides with laughter to see me still
hunting a porcupne. He said it took
me half an hour to work up to the tree,
and that the beast had probably been
up there for a week and If had not
brought him down he would have re-
mained there another week.
| got near enough to draw bead on
the dumpy black animal. and let drive.
He came down like a hod of brick, and
yelling like loon | started for him.
Nell now came running UP and be-
tween his smiles told me not to touch the
animal; 1t was a porcupine and would
quill me. / told him | knew it all the
time, but somehow he didn't swallow
that and when we reached camp my
bear cub was the plague of me for sew
eral days The only consolation | had
was that | had shot him clean in the
head.
We dragged him to camp. He was an
old one He had been in trap once,
for one of his forefeet was gone.
When Dan w saw the peculiar look
ing animal "A hp Jppl1 rod yn NypIilI
it for supper and as long after as it
would last. AT this the Maine man
turned deathly pale and in feeble tones
implored him not to do anything of the
kind, but to take it away over the hills
and bury it, but the Providence party
was hungry. Sour meal, sour baked
beans and fat pork were monotonous.
We wanted fresh meat.
Dan peeled the porcupine, spitted him
on a huge pole. and over the big fire
roasted him to a turn. / can see that
picture now. While we Were setting the
table for supper in came the Indian
with the porcupine which he tenderly
laid in the center, and with Johns big
bowie proceeded to carve the pig. We
sailed in. rather gngerly, I will confess,
at first. but after getting fair taste of
the meat, kept Dan busy serving up
the porky. The Maine man went hungry.
But we f'rund the porcupine very good
substitute for fresh pork. The meat. it
gamy flavor. 1t was also a trif1e tough,
but that we attributed to the age of our
prize. If / We're ever cast away on 81
desert island and there were plenty of
porcupines around, | would never so
hungry.
Several days after, when he broke
camp on account of the scarcity of pro-
visions, and Nell and John stood guard
over the broken camp wagon, while the
rest went to the front for a new set of
wheels, Nell is declared to have said:
John, | actually believe | could go a
small piece of that porcupine now"
What is the matter with the animal,
anyway, that people should have such
a prejudice against it? 1t feeds on the
bark of good, clean, healthy trees, and,
unlike many other animals which we
delight in eating, is practically fastidi-
Gus in its food. Certainly it is prefera-
BILE to the genuine porker as far as clean
illness goes
our party is much separated now, but
will guarantee that when the porcu-
pine subject is mentioned in the presence
of anyone, the animal is well defended.