Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-19
LIFE OF A PoRCUPlNE
LEAST LIKELY OF ALL ANIMALS To
srARvE TO DEATH.
Some Animals Feast Upon One Avn
other, hut They Generally Let
POr1<y severely Alone.
From Pearson's Magazine.


OF all the animals In the woods The por-
oupine Is probably the safest from starrs-
ton. for ne can eat anything, from the
scft green leaves of the water plants 10 the
bark and the small twigs of the talest FIR
tree Summer and winter his storehouse
IS always full. The young lions may lack,
and suffer hunger. and seek their meat
from God: but the young porky has only to
climb a tree and set his teeth at work.
And, by the way. the porcupine's front
teeth were n great institution, aud Were
quite worth talking about. They were Ions.
and yellow. and sharp, and there were TWO
in the upper Jaw. and two In the lower
jaw, with a wide gap on each side between
them and the lnolars Like beavers, they
were formed of thin shells of hard enamel
In front, backed up by softer pulp behind;
and, OF course. the softer parts wore away
first, and left the enamel pro)ecthg III
sharp chisel-lke edges that could gnaw.
crumbs from an oak chest. The next rev
months were pleasant ones. with plenty 10
eat and nothing to do but keep his Jaws
going. By-and-by the leaves began to fan:
they rustled around him like a silk skirt
going down the aisle of church. htte
later the beechnuts came down from the
sky and the porky Toasted on them III Ms
short legs could hardly hoid MS Tat Htlie
body the ground.
Dfmcult LOcomOtiOn.
Then came the first light snow, and his
feet left the tracks which bore faint re-
semblance to a baby's-that is, If your I'M
agInation was sufficiently vigorous. 1t grew
deeper and deeper. and after n while he
had to plough his way from the hollow log
to the trees where he took his meals IL
was hard work. for his clumsy legs were
not made for wading. and at every step ne
had to lift and drag himself forward am
Iat l,f l,>.yty
feet porcupine's feet VIII not go u
themselves, as other animals 90, lhey
have to be picked up one at time an"
lifted forward as far as they can reach
not very far at the best. for they are 81
mated at the ends OF very short legs IL
almost seems as IL he could run lastei IL
he could drop them off and leave 'heil pe.
hind But no matter how dilhcuN W.
walk might be, there was always a gooa
square meal at the end of It, ana ne pusneo
valiantly till he reached ms uliIe,
table Sometimes he stayed IN the Sanie
tree for several days at a time. quehchiis
his thirst with snow, and sleeping IN
crotch He was not by any menus Ll!e
only porcupine IN the woods ROUND JIM
merglass although weeks sometimes pd a.
without his seeing any of his relatives A.
other times there were from one 10 nan -
dozen porkies in the trees close by, anu WIZ,
they happened to feel like II they "ouIu
call backward and forward to each otl.
In queer harsh and often dueruions Voice.
The long, long winter dragged Slowly on
ward. the snow piled up higher ana neep..
and the cold grew sharper ana heeh'i,,
Night after night the pitiiess stars seen
sucking every last bit OF warmth GU, .,
the old earth, and leaving 1t cola ana uedu
forever. And famine, too. came Stdihins
through the woods. The buck ana the uoe
had to live on hemlock twigs TIL theS grew
thin and Door and their flesh came TO nave
The flavor OF resin. The partritges huu-
died together to keep warm curing SOM .h
driving storm. were buried IN a ufiL. the
81 ,...An NJ
starved TO death. The lynxes and the wllu,
cats hunted and hunted and hunted anu
found no prey; and 1t was Well TOT thh
bears that they could sleep an INC "ii'''
and did not need food.
Plenty and to Spare.
ONLY the porcupinc had plenty and -
snare Starvation had no terrors for him.
Yet the hunger of another may mean DAN
ger for U.S. as the porcupine discovered In
ordinary times most of the animals let MN
severely alone. They knew better than 70
attack such living pin cushion as he; Or
If they did try 1t. one touch was senefaiIy
enough. But when you are ready 10 peflSn
with hunger you Will take risks Whlch at
other times you would not even thinh
about and 1t happened that one AFTER
noon fierce-looking animal, with dark
fur, bushy tail and pointed nose, sprahg az
the porcupine from behind q tree and tried
to catch him by the throat, where there
were no quns-nothinE but soft, warm Iur-
The porky promptly made himself into a
prickly ball. very much as his mother mao
done seven or eight months before, ms
head to the ground and his forepaWs
clasped over his face; but the sharp httie
nose dug into the snow and wriggled us
way nearer and nearer to where the jugular
vein was waiting to be tapped. The raider
must have understood his business, for he
had chosen the one and only way by which
a porcupne may be successfully attacked.
Another inch and he would have won the
lint hn
grew reckless and did not notice that he
had wheeled part way round, and that ms
HEADQUARTERS were alongside the porcu-
pines.
The Lynx Vnnquished.
Now, sluggish and slow though a porcu-
pine may be, there is one of his members
that is as quick as q steel trap and that Is
his tail. Something hit the raider whack
on his flank, and he gave cry of pain and
fury, and jumped back with half dozen
spears sticking In his lIesh. He must have
been SO badly scared that he did not know
what he was doing. for in a moment his
face also had come within range of that
terrible tail and its quick. vicious jerks.
That ended the battle, and he fled away
across the snow. almost mad with the
agony in his nose. his eyes, his forehead
and his left flank. The bay lynx Jared stin
worse, for he did not know the very first
thing about the proper way to hunt porcu-
pines. He ought not to have tried Il at all,
but he was literally starving, and the temp
tation was too much for him. Here was
something alive, something that had wasm
red blood In its veins and good thick
layer of flesh over its bones, and that was
too slow to get away from him; and SO he
sailed night in. tooth and claw, regardless
of the consequences. The next second he
had forgot all about the porcupine, his own
hunger, and everything else but the terrible
pain in his face and his forepaws, He made
the woods fairly ring with his howls. and
he Jumped I'D and down on the SnOWcruSt,
rubbing his head with his paws, and driving
the little barbed spears deeper and deeper
into the flesh. And then, all of a sudden,
bowling, and dropped on the snow in a
limp. iifeess heap. One of the quilts had
driven straight through Ills left eye and
into his brain.