Porcupines. In the late 1960s and throughout the 70s, porcupines were extremely common throughout most of Idaho. It was not uncommon to see multiple live porkys and roadkills almost everywhere in the state. I'd probably see a couple hundred per year. Now, here we are in the new millenium, and since 2008 (15 years) that I've been back in Idaho, I've seen maybe 30 or 40 total, both live ones and roadkills. What caused this dramatic decline? Fairly rare to see one nowadays. What are other folks seeing for porcupines?





Can't forget to look at the baculum of a trophy male.


Jack

I've often wondered the same , here in Oregon we used to see them all the time in the eighties and nineties but not so much the last 20 years

Probably lack of trapping pressure on fisher and marten.

I knew I had a porky in my art folder somewhere ! Done for WCT long ago. They love chewing on tool handles, antlers , into cabins...

In the Bob wilderness, I stayed at a FS cabin . Making camp there, I fixed up the place nice , and had my dinner cooking ...then I heard chewing....under a shelf inside . Who did I find but a huge almost green looking porky....I opened the door and got a broom and proceeded to attempt sweeping him outside. He wasn't happy...well I wasn't either . He hit that broom with his tail and backed into it a dozen times before I finally convinced him to go out the door. Just as I settled in for the night, I hear the chewing again....on the outside of the door. I played not at home game, but he woke me several times chewing at the door ....grrrrrrrrr

Nice shots , Jack. Like how the fur folds over itself along his side in the second shot.

Good to see you , Jack. Been thinking of you, finished your book. Loved it.

On the surface...face to the wind

The porky population made a sudden drop here on the N Kenai Peninsula maybe 6 years ago or so. Muskrats, while never very numerous, also have declined along with redback voles and marten. I was however surprised to see quite a few roadkill porky south of Soldotna to Homer a couple years ago. Every thing from ermine to coyotes to brown bears all seem to have at least a few quills so I know there are still some around but way way fewer. I have found several porkies killed and eaten by coyotes over the years and the quills in the coyotes can be pretty bad at times. Used to see porkies in the ditches in the spring all the time eating fresh greens along the Seward Hiway from Anchorage south. Can't remember the last time I saw one on that drive. I remember had so few quills left on it's back that it was almost bare skin. I figured a bear cub must have messed with it. I suppose some animals get quilled to the point it kills them.

I haven't seen many Porkies around here either, (interior AK) over the past several years. Seems like I see road killed ones fairly often south of Alaska Range. Over the years, however, about 10% of our Marten catch had a few quill tips laying between the inside of their skin and their muscle. So there are some around. Those embedded quill tips did not seem to be bothering the Marten in terms of swelling or infection. Thanks for the pictures.

As an upland bird hunter all of my dogs except the newest one have ended up with a face full of quills from being tail-slapped. The newest has only encountered a dead one which, of course, he had to mess with and get about thirty quills in his left front leg and paw and left rear leg.

My son-in-law assisting with the quill removal.



You've heard of being up ____ Creek without a paddle? Well I found the source of that creek. That is all porcupine crap.



The numbers do seem to be declining around my camp in north central PA. Perhaps due to the increase in fisher numbers.

We never had them here in the southeast.

Porkys were never very plentiful in the boreal bush here.There is the odd one,but rare to find them.
As a kid growing up in central Ontario there were lots of porkys in the mixed maple and hemlock bush there.Often in late april if you went for a hike in the bush and found a porcupine in a tree you would find the single baby on the ground under the tree.I believe they only have one young maybe two at most so when their numbers decline they cannot make a quick comeback.
Most fisher I catch-which is not a lot will have a quill or two in their head neck area,so they are around here in the boreal.Not sure how they are holding up in the central Ontario mixed bush.

Nice artwork, Sharon.

Ate one in moose camp years ago. Not bad just had a slight silty flavor since we were hunting on a silty river, WHATEVER THAT IS...

X2

Those jokers are not in short supply near me. I live near the Sun River and I bet I catch near 2 dozen a year. Got one yesterday.

I used to catch a lot of them around my camp. I skinned one once, wanted to tan it. They have very thin skin, thinner and easier to tear than a possum or rabbit even.

I think there is a market for the western porkys-their hair grows a lot longer than the eastern ones I believe,and native dancers use the hair for making pow wow regalia.
The quills are also used by native craftspeople.

Wiss miss might have a handle on the price structure of that market.

I always wanted to attach a strip of porky hide on the back of my gloves in case I needed to give someone a backhander in the puss..

I tried eating one once. It was like eating turpentined lard. I spit it right over the side of the boat ! They also carry a tremendous endoparasite load

Boco

I hope you don’t wipe your nose on the back of your glove you must do a farmer blow, eh?

LOL.

Hey White

We cooked OURporky well done! Didn’t think of eating it raw!