Last Thursday I came upon this accident scene in Bolton thanks to my dog Pandora.
Note all the branches on top of the snow below the pine.
Large branch impalled in the snow, and just above it in the photo, a hole.
Not an ordinary hole - a procupine butt print.
It must have been quite shook up for it climbed out of the hole and rested at the base of the tree loosing more quills and other stuff...
The snow was really crusted so no prints. It must have fallen from quite a height for the hole was 5-6 inches deep.
Teresa, this is the coolest find!!!!
ReplyDeleteI once read that porcupines often fall out of trees, as evidenced by the fact that autopsies often show sign of old, healed hip fractures.
Why do they fall? Sheer accident, as is probable in this case -- perhaps poor judgment of the soundness of the branch, or inability to resist the temptation of the tenderest vegetation on the most distal branches. Also, pursuit by fishers sometimes forces them out to branches too small to bear the weight.
Thanks for sharing!
That's really cool to see continuing evidence of a porcupine population in Bolton.
ReplyDeleteIf a porcupine falls in the woods, does it make a sound?
Loved the reference to the "other stuff." Very cool accident scene; tell Pandora she can be Bolton's official Porcupine Hound.
ReplyDelete(Had fun on the hike Saturday ... I wonder how much of that carcass remains.)
Great photos of a wonderful find. It's my conviction that if you spend enough time in the woods, you see unusual things. I think that Janet is looking too far into the question of "why they fall?" I'd say gravity.
ReplyDeleteDan asks: "If a porcupine falls in the woods, does it make a sound?"
ReplyDeleteWe will never know, because fisher screaming drowns out all other animal sounds.