View Full Version : Porcupines
Hikerhead
10-29-2002, 00:14
Any information on these would be appreciated. Are they the monsters that they seem to be from what I've read? Thanks
Porkies aren't a monster. Just a pest. They are very bold. With their natural protection, not much intimidates them.
They will chew almost anything for the salt. Outhouses are a favorite.
Dogs like to mess with porkies, and they always come out second best with a mouthful of quills. Very painful. Good reason not to bring Fido into New England.
Best way to kill this pest is to club them on the nose. They are slow moving, so it's easy to out run them.
Meanwhile, where porkies have been active, hang your boots, hang your pack, and everything else, or risk having it chewed at night.
See my experiences posted at the Mark Noeble Lean-to topic.
Hammock Hanger
10-29-2002, 09:28
The only one i saw on the trail, and he was big, was near the Cooper Lodge Shelter on Mt Kilington, in VT. HH
Kerosene
10-29-2002, 10:46
Many years ago I ran into an extended family of porkies at the Kid Gore Shelter in southern Vermont. Fortunately, we knew they were coming from reading the shelter register ("a chorus line of porkies last night"), the all-aluminum privy, and the half-moon gnawings on the floor of the shelter where sweaty hikers had been seated.
We each gathered a medium-sized pile of rocks and took refuge on the top bunks. They hit us at dusk, sounding something like infants as they sniffled and whined into the area in front of the lean-to. They cried like babies for a few seconds the few times we were lucky enough to hit one with a rock. We didn't get a whole lot of sleep and they finally gave up the assault just after midnight as a light rain started. No casualties on either side but we were pooped the next morning (a day that I vividly remember as 14" of rain fell on a 14-mile day as a hurricane spent itself; plus I ended up pulling an Achilles tendon when my boot stuck in the mud and I tried to pull it out).
What in the world would make someone throw rocks at wildlife along the trail? Please, enlighten me...
probably the same reason that someone would issue snotty remarks on this forum, as if they owned the high ground and why i would stick my nose in - irritation!
Originally posted by Mowgli16
What in the world would make someone throw rocks at wildlife along the trail? Please, enlighten me...
Well, you don't exactly shoe them away with your hands. And they don't seem to head your yelling.
Kerosene
10-30-2002, 09:21
I debated whether or not to include the part about using stones to keep the porkies at bay. We certainly weren't trying to hurt them as much as keep them out of the shelter, plus we were young and stupid. I suppose we could have looked to use a stick to fend them off, but it was our first experience with porcupines. Fortunately, we didn't seem to do any damage.
Are there no porcupines on the southern portion of the trail? I'm a New Englander, so assumed they were everywhere. But my "Field Guide to Mammals" claims that they don't range beyond Pennsylvania and northern Virginia (but it's a 1964 edition and these things can change). Would I look silly hanging my boots in southern shelters? Probably not as silly as one who didn't in a northern shelter and paid the consequences.
Hikerhead
11-01-2002, 22:15
They're not here in Va as far as i know. I've never seen one in the wild, just in zoos.
You pour Southerners. You don't know what you are missing. LOL
Kerosene
11-02-2002, 00:51
I haven't seen, or heard, of porkies south of Massachusetts.
Just look around and you can tell if porkies are active in an area. Look for metal edges on say the platform of a shelter, look for evidence of wood being chewed. If it's really infested, look for pieces of quill on the ground and shelter floor.
All you have to do is listen for gnawing sounds at night. And look for patches of missing bark on trees, generally a couple inches above a branch (porkies need comfortable places to sit while chewing).
By the time you hear them at night it's usually too late.
And usually at night you will hear them whining.
EarlyRiser
11-02-2002, 18:33
I had never heard of them being a problem before. being from the south ive never had any encounter with them. im really glad i saw this. i guess they must be farther north.
On October 3rd I stayed at Calf Mtn Shelter. After nightfall and just as everything became quiet in the shelter, a small porky paid a visit and started to chew on the shelter. Sure was noisy for such a small critter. The shelter was flooded with light as we all turned on our zipkas, tikkas and other assorted Petzls. At first I thought it must be a HUGE MONSTER rat until we actually saw the porky. This was the first time I ever saw one south of Massachusetts. So they are in northern VA.
If in porky country, in addition to hanging your boots and pack, make sure your Leki poles are out of reach as well. I read a register entry a couple of years ago about a hiker who had the cork and straps chewed off her Lekis during the night while camping on Glastonbury Mtn near the fire tower.
Cin
Like many species, Porcupines are expanding their range. Climate change is exacerbating this dispersal. Once extirpated from my area, Porcupines have made a comeback in the Sterling Forest area in the last few years. FYI, about 10 miles of the AT runs through Sterling Forest State Park (from Lakes Road 1 mile North of Wildcat Shelter to Rte 17) Traveling home from work one morning (about 3 years ago) I saw a road kill Porkie on Rte 17A (about .5 miles east of Mombasha High Point - as the Raven flies). I called the State Park office to report the sighting, and the Ranger said "Oh, thats a Raccoon - I saw it this morning too". I urged her to take a ride back up there as it was definitely a Porcupine. She did, and it was the first confirmed evidence of a Porcupine in this new State Park. Since then I have seen significantly more road kill Porkies in the Park and surrounding area.
Just a reminder, Porcupines are not dangerous in any way (unless you are a dog) but they can be an annoyance (damaging gear and creating noise). If you come upon a shelter with evidence of Porcupine visitation, you may want to move on and tent elsewhere. Remember, you are a visitor to the woods.
Saw a baby porky at Wilbur Clearing once. It was one of the most beautiful critters I've seen on the trail yet.
Porqupine scatt looks like piles of macaroni, and is a very common sight in MA and VT in the rocks along the edges of the Trail. While porkies will likely find you at night at a handfull of shelters in MA and Graylock, they are certainly won't be everywhere. I don't know about you guys, but I've seen a whole lot more moose and bear along the AT than porqupines.
During the day they are hard to spot during thru hiker season, but in the right areas (like around Quabin Reservior in MA) you can find them by following the u-shape trough they leave in the snow during the winter. If you see them up in a tree in the morning, they will likely be in the same place if you return that way in the afternoon.
As for throwing very small rocks at them, well I have mixed feelings about that. I guess my recommendation is this: Hiker who would toss rocks at porqupines up north should practice thier aim on skunks down south.
Jumpstart
11-07-2002, 09:36
While I would tend to agree that killing porcupines is a little over the top (how can you begrudge an animal it's right to live in it's in natural habitat and behave..naturally?) I thought it would be intersting to advise that in some states, Maine being one of them, porcupines are actually a protected species, so watch where you are aiming your rocks, and what you are clubbing to death.
atraildreamer
08-06-2006, 07:42
They cried like babies for a few seconds the few times we were lucky enough to hit one with a rock.
Just shine a light in their eyes...they'll take off (usually). :sun
Had a friend several years ago who had a young hunting dog who was still very hyper yet. he found a 'pine killed on the road one afternoon and got into its quills. It was terrible to see its suffering and the vet had no choice then to put it down. I was surprised they couldnt do anything for it. The dog did have a bunch of quills in its face and neck.
P'pines are probably more lethal in death than in life
jaywalke
09-25-2006, 09:34
Porkies grunt like little pigs, too. Very cute as long as you've hung your gear out of the way.
The scariest sound I've ever heard in the woods was an unearthly howling, screaming and banging coming from a privy near the Catskills. It sound like a transvestite knife fight in a phone booth. It turned out to be two porcupines mating.