...And what's this crap? There's a reason animal droppings are referred to as "scat"-it's the prevailing thought which comes to mind when you see it!
And here's the culprit! Back for more, and much closer to the house this time-not nearly as charming as before. In fact, I want to impress upon this creature that he needs to take his happy ass elsewhere-I mean, there are plenty of other trees around! So I approach quickly once he reaches the ground to try and encourage him to leave, and not climb the tree again...
...this definately looks like a full-out defense posture. I inform him that I'm not happy right now either, and it's time for him to go!
Luckily, he took my advice! You would imagine that this encounter impressed him enough that he'd dine elsewhere, but sadly this is not true. When I got home from work Monday night, he was up that same birch-rapidly defoliating branches and breaking plenty, too. I was pissed, so I sprayed him with the hose, foolishly believing he'd come down...
...not only did he climb higher, but the windy conditions brought down an odor that can only be described as "wet buffalo"-super! My next action will not be illustrated with pictures...let's just say this porcupine "went toward the light". Now, I don't go around murdering wild creatures for nothing, but obviously this beast was not taking a hint! And I won't have my nice birch dessimated, when he has an entire damn forest to choose from! So ends the saga of Mr. Porcupine...a moment of silence....okay, bye!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Guess who's coming to dinner? (Again)...I come outside Saturday to get work done in the garden, and what's this? Branches all over my deck, mostly stripped of leaves....
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8 comments:
Too funny. I guess liquid fencing the tree not an option?
Nothing seemed to stop this jerk! I honestly feel like he came back to that same tree after I chased him just to spite me, but I know that's not as important to him as eating something he really wants. I just couldn't let him eat ALL of it!
I'm not judging; I think it's pretty funny. Poor porcupine wuz hungry!
You think s/he left some of those cute wittle porcupine babies at home to starve?
City guy that I am, I didn't realize porcupines could be such garden pests. They seem like grubbers to me.
Hard to say if this was a female or not, but rest assured it had plenty of siblings and cousins to carry on the mission. I tried persuasion, but I've since been told they are very persistent to a tree until they're done with it, and usually the tree dies. And I just can't have that...this tree would be very expensive to safely take down. I would need help lifting a live trap with him in it, and these creatures aren't novice-type animals to deal with. Therefore, his "relocation" needed to come about via the most practical means available to me. (Plus I'm a good shot.)
Wow, Lisa! You go! Hey, if the world comes to an end or some such, I'm coming to hang with you! You know, I don't think I've ever even seen one of these guys in real life...and I don't think I want to! A real life adventure story...and the heroine prevails!
GG-No sweat, I gotcha covered! :) Thanks for the support...I really didn't want to kill him, but sometimes it's gotta happen if live-trapping isn't practical and varmints just won't go away.
It's not funny when the critter is wrecking your tree but it sure is hilarious reading. Maybe if you put out a salt block it would be distracted and lick it instead of chewing on your tree. Just make sure you don't get a quill stuck in you battling the porcupine.
I don't know if salt would interest a porky, but that's an idea. Those quills are nasty-I've had them stuck in the sidewalls of my TIRES before! (Re-hit a roadkill porky.) I'm just hoping that I don't have any more come into my yard at all, since I'd lived here 9 years before this one showed up.
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