: Outdoors

TheReview Wednesday, December 2, 1992 — A19

Stopping for quills was how great friendship began

In response to an earlier column
on porcupines, several callers have
expressed further interest in these
somewhat little understood
rodents.

“What are their food preferences
and how do they ever manage to
mate successfully with opposing
forests of intervening quills to
contend with?” Ouch!

One caller expressed the view-
point that porcupines could surely
never become desirable household
pets, considering their potentially
devastating armour of needle-
sharp, barbed spears and their easy
delivery when disturbed at very
close quarters.

But let’s allow first-hand
encounters to speak for them-
selves.

One Apmil aftemoon, Mary and I
were returning from a snow goose
foray at the peak of their migra-
tion. In my mind’s eye I could still
see flock after flock of these
magnificent geese setting their
black-tipped wings to coast down
into wide fields, their gleaming
white bodies glowing against the
gold of the stubble:

“Stop!”’ Mary said suddenly.
~There’s a dead porcupine on the
edge of the road.”

We had promised some quills to
a friend who wanted them for a
wall plaque.

I stopped the car and we walked
back to the fresh carcass. The
animal had evidently been hit hard
and was quite dead. We began.
gingerly plucking quills from its
back.

“What was that?” Mary said
raising her head.

A plaintive sound, somewhere
between a grunt and a whimper,
issued from the long dead grass a
short distance along the ditch.

When we moved forward, a
small pudgy, low-slung figure clo-
thed in long black fur wriggled out
of the grass.

~ A baby porcupine! ~ Mary
said. “Ill bet the one on the road
was its mother. We can’t leave the
little fellow here.”

So, despite his natal forest of
tiny quills, we managed to maneu-
ver him into. a cardboard box and
took him home.

Mary quickly warmed some
milk, filled a doll’s bottle and
presented the nipple to our new

_ friend.

He half closed his eyes and
proceeded to tank up: Five bottles
later, Porky was still begging for
food. And so it went-for three
years.

I don’t think that Mary ever got
him stuffed to capacity:

Whenever we opened his out-
door cage, Porky would climb into
Mary’s arms and grunt as though

__ imploring her, for.dinner,....,, , . be=

oF

PORKY ON THE BOTTLE

Given an apple, he would sit
upon his haunches, supported by
his tail, tripod fashion, and then
spin the apple a couple of times
before getting down to the serious
business of eating.

A carrot followed, along with
crackers, grapes, lettuce leaves and
a doughnut.

Released on the lawn, he imme-
diately started on tender dandelion
leaves, shoots of grass and the bark
of fresh willow twigs which Mary
provided.

Porky grew plump and gentle. In
no time, he was almost as broad as
long and could only walk with an
exaggerated waddle, his whole
body swaying in rhythm with his
short steps.

After that first day, he gave up

- Switching his tail at us and never

raised a quill when picked up.

He seemed to enjoy eating his
meals while sitting in Mary’s lap;
his version of breakfast in bed on a
Sunday moming.

‘A plaintive sound,
somewhere
between a grunt
and a whimper,
issued from the
long dead grass a
short distance
along the ditch’

Mary often sat on the back
porch, either reading, knitting or
watching the sunset. At such times,
Porky would climb up her slacks
to her lap, then struggle up a shirt
sleeve to drape himself around her
neck in order to draw stray locks of
her hair through his mouth while
licking it profusely.

=
ot DISTRICT OF
a3 NORTH SAANICH

Proposed plans for Wain
and Bazan Bay parks will
be on display at North
Saanich municipal hall
until December 4.

Submit any written
comments to district of
North Saanich, PO. Box

2639, Sidney, B.C. V8L4C1

If youre

NEW IN
TOWN

and don’t know
which way to turn,

call the

| Wetome Wigan.

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(Sidney & North Saanich)
Claudia Parfitt 656-7898
ViolaHowe 656-3825

(Brentwood & Central Saanich)
Frances Suddaby652-7767
Vicky Jackson 652-5689

(Baby Welcome)

Fern Gifford 656-8932
(Business Professional)
Janice Irwin 656-1174
Welcome Wagon Answering
Service 479-3385
CY HAMPSON photo

I would suspect that natural
gentleness plays an important role
in the courtship and mating of (—
porcupines.

At age three, we felt the com-
pany of Porky’s own kind was
overdue.

We released him among willows
along a creek, far from the nearest
toad. We left him busily tanking
up on delicious, fresh new pussy
willows.

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ae

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