The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1901-09-07
PORCUPINE PARADISE
ANIMAL WITH THE QUlLLS PRO-
TECTED BY LAW.
A Statute In Wisconsin the Like or
Which Exists Nowhere Else In the
United states-Protected to Save Lost
Men from Starving.

United Ststes-PrOtected to Save LOST
Mon from Starving.
Suppose you took your gun and your
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 up be-
hind your camp and made off with the
string of black bass that was all you
had for dinner. Suppose your one-hun-
andfifty-dollar dog made dash
at the thief and came back with his
nose so full of quilts 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 seizes
you and prevents you by main force.
In answer to your argument that
porcupine is of no use on earth, he
tells you that it 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
1yn oh, fnv hn OF f1pfA &c
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,
the like of which exists nowhere else
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
binary circumstances. This is severe;
the law provides heavy fine or i'm
prisonment for the killing or sharing
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made to have it repealed.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 lumbermen 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 it has inflicted is al
most beyond computation. OF course
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 sister
and his cousins and his aunts, to Say
nothing Of the male relatives, are do
ing the same thing all around him. S<
1t is easy to see why the lumbermeI
do not love the porcupine. As mat
ter of fact, nobody loves the porch
pine Hunters detest him because h,
is eternally nosing about the camp ant
making on with anything eatable tina
he can secure. He does not eat insect,
and small animals that annoy the ag
riculturist; therefore the farmer ha
no use for him. Even the beasts o
prey let him severely alone. The pan
ther, the lynx, the wild cat the wolf
the wolverine, and even the bear Civ
the gentleman of the quilts a wild
berth; they prefer to get their mea
somewhere else. Why, then, does tn
law Of Wisconsin protect the animal
This is the reason: The porcupine
. life-saver. Nature seems to have de
signed him as food supply for los
and unarmed and starving men, Wis
consin forests are vast, and humal
habitations in certain parts OF tn
state are few and far between. But n
man need starve to death while tn
porcupine fourishes. For the anims
is everywhere, waiting to be killed an
eaten. He cannot escape IL he woult
and he does not try. He curls up int
ball and fancies himself secure, bu
q blow from club will kill him easil,
In short the porcupine is the only cal
able animal that an unarmed man ca
catch and kill. Every year many
lost and hungry man in the pathlee
forests Of Wisconsin has dined hearth
on roast porcupine and come out aliv
and unframed, whereas otherwise b
would have chewed his belt and boot.
snawed bark. and died.-John Dickir
son Sherman in Youths Companion.
1