Free press., 1901-08-24
PORCUPINE PARADISE
ANIMAL WITH THE oUILLS PRO-
TECTED BY LAW
= s.atuts In Wisconsin the Like OF
Which Exists Nowhere Else In the
United states-Protected to Save Lost
Men from Starting.

Suppose you took your gun and yo1r
dog and went into Wisconsin on a
hunting and fishing trip. Suppose you
saw more porcupines, of the common
hedgehog variety, than you did game.
Suppose one Of them sneaked mp be-
hind your camp and made OF with the
string of black bass that was all you
had for dinner Suppose your one-hun-
dred-and-ifty-dollar dog made a dash
at the thief and came back with his
nose so full of quills that you had to
sit down and pull them out by main
force, while he howled loud enough TO
be heard in the next county. Then
you would probably pick up club and
start for that porcupine, determined to
send him where there are no black
bass to steal. and no hunting dogs to
main. And suddenly your guide seizas
you and prevents you by main force.
In answer to your argument that a
porcupine is OF no use on earth he
tells you that il is against the state
law Of Wisconsin to kill one. Wouldn't
you think that law was a queer law?
And suppose you saw acres of dead
Eastwood and birch and maple trees
that the porcupines had killed. Would
mt you be inclined to think that the
people Of Wisconsin were crazy to
keep such a law on the statute books
and enforce it? And wouldn't you
think Wisconsin should be called, in
stead of the Badger State" the
Hedgehog State,'' or the "Porcupine
Paradise?" This queer Wisconsin law,
=
in the United States, is apparently de-
signed to establish the right of the
porcupine to life, liberty and the pur-
suit of happiness within the state
boundaries. 1t has been on the statute
books ever since there have been any
such volumes, and there has never
been an effort made to repeal it. Of
course it is often violated, but nine out
of ten country justices Of the peace
will inflict the full penalty under or
d1nary circumstances. This is severe;
the law provides a heavy fine or i'm
prisonment for the killing or snaring
of a porcupine. At first glance, one
of the queer things about this law is
the fact that no effort has ever been
made to have it repealed. One would
suppose that the 1umbermen would
have had it scratched off the books
long ago. LAUNDERING is one of the
principal industries of the state and
the lumbermen naturally have consid-
cradle influence in the legislature.
Now, the lumberman does not love the
porcupine; on the contrary, he holds
him in undying hatred. The animal
ruins thousands of dollars worth of
timber every year, and the aggregate
Of the damage t has inflicted is al
most beyond computation. OF course
the porcupine does not go about kill
ing trees for fun; but nature has given
him an Unsuitable appetite for the in
ner bark and tender buds of the bass
wood, the birch, the maple, and other
forest trees. He picks out cookbook
ing tree, begins at the top, and ends at
the bottom. When he gets through
with that particular tree there is moth
ing left but the bare trunk and the
stripped limbs. Then he picks out an
other maple or birch and repeats the
performance. Meanwhile his sisters
and his cousins and his aunts, to say
nothing of the male relatives, are do
ing the same thing all around him. So
do not love the porcupine. AS a mat
ter of fact, nobody loves the porcC-
| pine Hunters detest him because ne
is eternally nosing about the camp and
| making off with anything eatabIe that
he can secure. He does not eat insects
and small animals that annoy the ag-
riculturist; therefore the farmer has
no use for him. Even the beasts of
prey let him severely alone. The pan
ther, the lynx, the wild cat, the wolf,
| the wolverine, and even the bear give
the gentleman of the QuilIs a wide
berth; they prefer to get their meat
somewhere else. Why, then, does the
| law Of Wisconsin protect the animal?
This is the reason: The porcupine is
| a life-sayer. Nature seems to have de-
signed him as a food supply for lost
| and unarmed and starving men. Wis
| consin forests are vast, and human
| habitations in certain parts of the
| state are few and far between. But no
man need starve to death while the
porcupine fiourishes. For the animal
is everywhere, waiting to be killed and
eaten. He cannot escape if he would,
and he does not try. He curls up into
| a ball and fancies himself secure but
| a blow from club will kill him easily.
In short the porcupine is the only eat
able animal that an unarmed man can
catch and kill. Every year many a
lost and hungry man in the painless
forests of Wisconsin has dined heartily
on roast porcupine and come out alive
! and unharmed, whereas otherwise he
would have chewed his belt and boots,
| gnawed bark, and died.-John Dickin-
son Sherman in Youths Companion.