This weekend I decided to make the journey home to visit with my family. When I got home Friday afternoon and I found a little surprise in my neighbor's yard....a little baby porcupine! Probably the cutest little thing I've ever seen. He was so tiny and we were very surprised that he would have been left alone at such a young age. I kept looking up in the trees close by to see if I could see his mother but no luck. He seemed to be making a little noise like he wanted something, maybe his mom? I searched online to learn about the family life of porcupines to see if maybe it was normal to see such a young one out on his own. It said that after about 6 months they travel out on their own but this little guy looked so young. Later that night our neighbor called us over and said she thought she found the mother! There was a huge adult munching away on pear in her pear tree. We tried to coax it over to the tree and eventually ended up having it cling to a piece of wood and move it over the few feet to the tree. It wondered around, still making that little noise but didn't seem interested in the adult, nor did the adult seem interested in the baby. I was hoping that they might be family or at least the adult take the little guy to where it lives. It was sad seeing the baby on its own, but maybe that's just he way nature works, right? I'm going to try and learn a little more about porcupine life and keep tabs on the baby through my family. It might be fun just to watch him grow up and see if he stays in the area!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
A Suprise at Home
This weekend I decided to make the journey home to visit with my family. When I got home Friday afternoon and I found a little surprise in my neighbor's yard....a little baby porcupine! Probably the cutest little thing I've ever seen. He was so tiny and we were very surprised that he would have been left alone at such a young age. I kept looking up in the trees close by to see if I could see his mother but no luck. He seemed to be making a little noise like he wanted something, maybe his mom? I searched online to learn about the family life of porcupines to see if maybe it was normal to see such a young one out on his own. It said that after about 6 months they travel out on their own but this little guy looked so young. Later that night our neighbor called us over and said she thought she found the mother! There was a huge adult munching away on pear in her pear tree. We tried to coax it over to the tree and eventually ended up having it cling to a piece of wood and move it over the few feet to the tree. It wondered around, still making that little noise but didn't seem interested in the adult, nor did the adult seem interested in the baby. I was hoping that they might be family or at least the adult take the little guy to where it lives. It was sad seeing the baby on its own, but maybe that's just he way nature works, right? I'm going to try and learn a little more about porcupine life and keep tabs on the baby through my family. It might be fun just to watch him grow up and see if he stays in the area!
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2 comments:
I agree that juvenille porcupines are adorable. It may be interesting to email Dan about his knowledge of young porcupines. Perhaps this individual is fine on its own. Sometimes we view nature through our own eyes and it is difficult to understand how these young creatures develop without much assistance from parents.
EEK! Coaxing an adult porcupine sounds like the beginning of a very scary story. Glad it all worked out ok. And I agree- our group is so fabulous! :)
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