The weather in Central
Pennsylvania has been fickle this year. Rain falls unexpectedly every other day,
followed by periods of extreme heat. It makes for a wonderful atmosphere for our garden
plants and flowers which are flourishing this year.
In one of my flowerbeds, as
you enter the house through the back door, I have a bed of grape hyacinth which
blooms profusely each spring. This summer, some critter keeps digging holes and
unearthing the bulbs every night. I was blaming it on a skunk, but the other
night my husband discovered a porcupine in front of our unattached garage,
located outside the back door. He (or she) was not a large one, and we’re guessing
from his size, he’s probably a yearling.
After some research, I found
that porcupines are nocturnal herbivore rodents, and they eat things such as
fruit, roots, tree bark, leaves of plants, flowers, vegetables, and bulbs. They also have a preference
for salty items.
FUN FACTS:
They are the largest rodent
found in North America and weight around twenty pounds. Basically loners, these
rodents prefer to live and forage alone. They are good swimmers and excellent
climbers, regularly scaling trees in search of food. Contact with others only
occurs during the breeding season when the young, called porcupettes, are born.
Bearing twins is unusual.
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by jggrz, Pixabay
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Porcupines have about 30,000
quills they can use for
defense, but they cannot throw them as many legends
have
earlier indicated. Porcupines have a range of about
14 acres and live an
average of 18+ years in North
America.
Now, the burning question is
how does a homeowner get
rid of this irksome rodent? Unfortunately, the only permanent way is trapping him or fencing your plants, garden, and flowerbeds. Sometimes a
liquid repellent from your local hardware store will deter him.
So basically, I’ve concluded that
we’re stuck with pesky Mr. Porcupine since none of the above is possible or has
worked. I’m told, when he runs out of food, he’ll move on. I’m guessing we’re
in a relationship with this critter for the remainder of our summer months.
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