Speaking of Nature: A surprise in my maple tree: Porcupines just want to find something tasty to eat and be left alone
It was the end of an exciting day of nature photography and as I pulled into my driveway I figured that I was done for the day. I had been out in forests and fields and had managed to take just about 1,000 photographs of flowers, birds and even some turtles. I went into the house, set my camera on the writing desk by my kitchen window and started the process of shifting into “evening mode,” which is what everyone aspires to after a long day. On my way through the house, heading toward a change of clothes and something for dinner, I glanced out the back window and stopped in my tracks. What in Darwin’s name was that?
At the edge of my meadow there stands a lone maple tree that is quite apart from any other trees. Surrounded by grasses that can grow to be eight feet tall in the summer, this tree is quite popular with flocks of mourning doves and red-winged blackbirds, but on this particular evening there was something quite different up in its branches. A large, dark-colored animal that I initially thought might be a wild turkey was in the tree, but a look through my binoculars helped me to see its true identity. I was looking at a porcupine!
As you might imagine, all of my plans changed in that moment. Rather than heading for sweatpants and slippers I did an about face and grabbed my camera. I knew that the porcupine might not be particularly enthusiastic at my approach, but I also knew that porcupines are very slow animals and that I would probably be able to get quite close before it could attempt any sort of meaningful retreat. So, with camera in hand, I headed down the hill to see if I could get some photos.
It took a while and the fading light didn’t help matters much, but I was eventually able to take a picture that captured what was going on. The porcupine, bored of its normal winter food, had been exploring and had found a tree full of nice, fresh flower buds. Although this required that the fairly sizeable mammal climb up into the spindly upper branches of the maple tree, the porcupine managed to get what it was looking for and my camera clicked just as it grabbed a small branch and pulled the flowers into its mouth.
The North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) is probably an animal that most people recognize as a victim of road kill. Chunky rodents with an impressive defense mechanism of sharp quills, porcupines have abandoned speed in favor of a stand-and-fight strategy for defense. This is effective against most of its natural predators, but the modern automobile, moving at 40 mph or more, is something that the porcupine simple isn’t equipped to deal with; a “predator” that is fast and completely immune to sharp quills.
Further exacerbating the problem is the fact that porcupines are often active at night. Many motorists who would gladly avoid hitting and killing a porcupine simply have no chance to stop in time if a porcupine is crossing a road at night. The number of porcupines killed by horse-drawn carriages must have been minuscule, but cars are another thing altogether.
Porcupines are pure vegetarians and they spend most of their time eating tree leaves and bark. In the winter they rely heavily on hemlock trees for food and by the time spring arrives one can imagine that anything fresh and different is a real treat for them. Flower buds are nutritious and available in huge numbers. In the autumn the porcupine will eat all sorts of fruit with great relish, but this will not go over well with orchard owners who discover their apples eaten and their apple trees damaged by porcupines feasting on the bark.
Like any wild animal, porcupines will have a somewhat negative disposition when it comes to humans, but they are not aggressive animals. Basically, they just want to find something tasty to eat and be left alone. However, the internet abounds with video clips of porcupines that were found as orphans who grow up to be loving, friendly animals who delight in foods such as sweet potatoes and, or course, apples. Friendly as they are, however, they are inherently hazardous be around, so common sense suggests that they be admired from afar. Those barbed quills have little “teeth” that face backwards, which makes them quite difficult to remove if they get jabbed into your skin. Imagine a toothpick covered with thousands of tiny fishhooks and you’ve got the right idea.
I’ve been exploring the forests of western Massachusetts for my entire life and I’ve only crossed paths with live porcupines a few times. I’ve seen several crossing quiet country roads as I’m driving along, but I’ve never seen one actively feasting on tree flowers before, so that is a box that I can check on my life list of natural wonders. Keep your eyes peeled for these animals and, as always, think about slowing down while you are driving. Porcupines are just trying to get on with their lives and they don’t have any ill intentions. Try not to penalize them for being slow and relying on a defense mechanism that has served them well for millions of years.
Bill Danielson has been a professional writer and nature photographer for 27 years. He has worked for the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the Nature Conservancy and the Massachusetts State Parks and he currently teaches high school biology and physics. For more in formation visit his website at www.speakingofnature.com, or go to Speaking of Nature on Facebook.
Daily Hampshire Gazette
