The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-17
HlNGRY. HAPPY pORCt PINES.
Their Habit OF Eating Piers. Hotel Porchcs
and Oars Has Made Them Dis,it ed.

| The happiest irhabitant of the Mort h
| Woods in the warm spring days is the
porcupine Other beasts and birds have
cares: the porcupine has none They have
to search for food; the porcupine eats what
| |, finds and when il finds nothing eats
wood and bark
| It is reasonably happy at all seasons,
| but superatively so just now. for all day
| it sits upon the limb of some great hemlock
! or birch and swings slowly in the sun,
sound asleep and holding on by instinct
| The pleasing rays come down through
| it, quilts and make ii comfortable all
| through.
A man in walk Of mile may see half
a dozen porcupines and every one of them
will be high up, roosting securely and
| utterly hissful. II the porcupire knew
how, 1t would repeat the Whitcomb Riley
spring poem about -Lszyin' around as dern
please When tn green, you know, gifts up
in tn trees; but it does better than repeat
it, it acts it,
The porcnpine is in no danger from
predatory animals except when on the
ground and it is in very little danger then.
If a foeman appears it merely rolls itself
into a ball, cxposirg its impre gnaLlc armor
Of quilts and lies s. III until the crcroacher
! has investigated and gone away with its
, nose full Of stickers
There is no wild animal that can get
the better of porcupine. Like Young
Critic. the whilom puglist, it can't hurt
anything. but it has the entire science Of
self defence in the knot of its scarf and
thousand drawn battles to its credit
The only animal which Stays the porcu-
pine relentlessly and frequently is man
Some of the Western States have laws
perpetualiy protecting the porcupne on
the theory that 1t is the only flesh which a
capture with club aud eat but nobody
in the porcupine districts pays any atten-
ton to these laws.
Porcqpines are killed when opportunity
offers. because they are very destructive
They do most of their feeding at night and
they cost the woods jewellers money.
A porcupiHe will visit small pier at the
edge Of lake. ard in the morning some
Of the dock will be inside of the porcupine
and much of it will be in splinters: III ore
blade of an car and then tackle the gun
vale OF the boat, marging it seriously. if not
running it.
There are many little hotels scattered
through the North Woods. intended fer the
entertainment Of fishermen ard hunters,
and the porches Of these hotels all bear evil
dcnces Of the porcupne's teeth. If there
be a grease spot on the ,planking that is the
spot he porcuplne Will gnaw and It will
gnaw long after the grease has disappeared ,
gnaw until there ia 8 hole clear through
1t is supposed that il eats oars, piers.
at-edges, porches and such things for
tho slight traces Of salt that there may be
on them from human handling, but this is
only theory, 1t is quite as likely that the
porcupine cats them because they are access
sible and ii feels that it must eat something
1t is frequently necessary to renew small
piers in out Of the way lakes because of this
habit and, therefore, the hotelkcepers and
guides. who would much rather lie drawing
money from guest than building piers or
boats, shoot the porcupinc cruelty, They
oven make sport OF il. finding them
swaying with the wind in trees and knock.
ing them ont with high-power rifles,
Despite the efforts of humanity. however,
the porkupines increase, The North Woods
cover a tremendous stretch Of territor and
there are hundreds of square miles visited
hardly twice a year by Indian or white
man. In these places the forces Of the
porcupnes recuperhe and repenish to 60
out and eat more oars.