Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-24
AL THEIR GRILLs IN ACTION
Lonely RsnEe DweIIer Eas Remark
able FiEht With forcupines
In the Dark.

Nell johnson. a cattle feeder In the
willis Run district OF Pennsylvania, had a
thrilling scrap with a colony of hungry
porcupiues In his cabin one night recently.
After a days Inspection on the range
Johnson, returning to his cabin. found
that during his absence some animal had
gotten into the hut and gnawed a hole into
the mlllet sacks. and by the quantity OF
grain that had disappeared he Judged that
the thief must have had a ravenous appe-
lite. lie supposed the thief to be a raccoon
or two, and as he was not averse to hav-
Ing '~jerked" coon for dinner next day, he
laid an plan TO catch one OF the nocturnal
visitors.
johnson keeps a set of traps In the cabin.
ane one OF these he hid adroitly, partly
under a pile OF the millct seed and partly
under a corner OF the next bag. His sleep
ing quarters IL on a bunk-like loft six feet
above the ground floor OF the cabin. and
he counted on quickly making a light in
the night when he found that the coon
had been e~ntrapped. leaping down upon
him and clubbing him to death in a jiffy.
johnson things Il must have been about
1 o'clock at night when he was wakene
by an awful commotion on the floor below
him. He was tired, and had slept more
i 1NhA1AN AaoAA At was bAA " 81 AlAhA HAiAR
thieves had made entry to his abode with
out his knowing It. And by the chorus Of
sounds that greeted his ears he guessed
that instead of one or two 'coons there
must be a whole colony. That one was
fast in the trap he was pretty sure. for
the whine and whimper of one of the
"varmints" indicated that Il was In agony.
It was only the work OF a minute to apply
a match to a little pitch pine bundle and
then he was ready for the fray.
But he reckoned without his host. for
the moment he landed on his feet on the
ground he found he had gotten into worse
than a hornets nest. His visitors were
not raccoons, at all. but porcupines, and
at least a dozen OF them. one was fast In
the trap. and the Others we're gathered
about him in evident frenzy of anger. The
light from the pine fagots blinded the ami
male for a minute. and most Of them
scampered for shelter. But the cries OF
their imprisoned fellow, now more pitlfuI
than ever, called them to the rescue and
they made a copcerted onslaught on
Johnson, whom they now seemed to recog
nize as the cause of their mates plight
They scrambled up over him and bit him
everywhere, face and neck and hands, and
only now and then was he able to deliver
u NAih wv" oRph hiy VI hhS dIlldSO0lNIS
Finally. in a desperate attempt to shak,
one of the animals off his hand he dropped
the bundle of lighted splints. and he feared
that he would be overcome by the animals
Then a lucky thought flashed through hi,
mind. If he were to silence the chap II
the trap perhaps the other would deslst
One stroke Of the club put that 'porkie'
out, and sure enough. as though theii
commander had been taken, the Who'll,
colony OF porcupines took to flight. Gath
ering up his sputtering pine fagots, John
4 son began taking account of stock. II,
was surprised to find that in addition I,
the entrapped animal he had killed fiv,
7 others.
But his own condition was such tina
4 after applying such remedies as he had a
4 hand. he was compelled to walk home tina
night and have the bites and scratche
q attended to. His condition was such 10
: a few days that very serious consequence
were feared. Johnson says he thinks h
. would about as soon have a egime o
. wildcats come at him as a drove of porcu
pines.-Philadelphia Record.