No Kissing the Porcupines

On a recent ride into the mountains, we saw teeth marks like this on many of the aspen trees. There seem to be 4 teeth raking the bark.

We believe this was done by porcupines, who eat bark during the winter. The marks are all about 4 feet off the ground, probably the snow level last winter. Porcupines will occasionally eat the bark all the way around a trunk and kill the tree. (Photo at left came from Wikipedia.)

Here's Daisy after she had a close encounter of the uncomfortable kind with one of those loose-quilled critters last autumn. (They don't shoot their quills, but the quills are released from a porcupine's skin easily, leaving the surprised attacker with a faceful.)
We didn't see the actual event. Daisy came running up while trying frantically to rub her snout on the ground. She had quills inside her mouth, too, and most were broken off.
Steve found a hemostat in his saddle bag and used it to pull most of the quills.

Here's one compared to an inch on a ruler.
We looked at a quill under a microscope. The black object is a pointer that points to the quill itself. You can see the tiny barbs that make extraction difficult.

Daisy had some swelling and quills working their way out of her face for a few weeks, but she suffered no significant long-term effects.

Note to our highly gifted but sometimes overly enthusiastic Daisy: next time you see a porcupine critter, do not attempt to eat it, kiss it, or touch it. Run the other way!

For more camera critters of many varieties, click here.