Monday, January 31, 2011

unhappy trails

i'm not happy to see this trail, but i want to make sure
so i followed it 

there was a urine patch close to the white pine
and a messy eater's evidence underneath 
but the trail continued out through the old front horse pasture 
by the apple tree that the gray mares loved to shade from the sun under 
and across the road and into the stone's woods 
a closer look
and there it was. way up. porcupine. 
not a good neighbor when there are up to seven dogs in these two homesteads.
i hope i can discourage it.
a distraught dog who tries to chase this critter away can easily become a pin cushion. 
wendy will ignore, not so the others.
9 degrees. pink cheeks, frozen thighs, happy border collie. a fine walk.
for visual delight go look at these books!!!
joanne kaar's wonderful books from her recent project.

9 comments:

  1. --I must be a real "city slicker'--didn't know that porcupines were tree climbers. Hope Wendy stays away.

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  2. A porcupine? Up a tree? I had no idea they climbed!
    What a worry for you and your dogs :(

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  3. getting quite an education here:)

    great portrait shot

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  4. i've only recently learned how dangerous porcupines can be. they are so different in character to our echidnas who just curl up into a ball and try to dig their way out of a corner.
    i'm going to play devil's advocate here tho, and guess that the porcupines may have been there first before dogs....ok ok, i'm ducking.

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  5. jean and danielle, these critters are all about climbing, and eating, trees. neki, thought the red cheeks were something else.
    kaite, someone else was always there first. porcupines have few foes, their quills and the ability to whack with their fully armed tails make them formidable for their size and leg length. the dogs are stupid (not wendy) and will mess around with porcupines.

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  6. like breadcrumbs you had me following the trail. i can only imagine being a pincushion.

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  7. I would like some education, too!
    How can you see, that it's a porcupine?
    From the paws? I'm used to dear and fox and wild pigs but never saw these in my part of the world

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  8. jude, the puppies suffer
    uschi, i know their trails, have seen them many times in winter. this one is brave and bold to cross the road, but not very smart, porcupines waddle rather slowly. i often see them in the woods when i ski.

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  9. Thanks for the link to those books - delicious. I hoe the porcupine waddles off somewhere else and decides your place isn't the place for it to be. I think we heard you have another snow storm - so hold tight and stay warm.

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