Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Look…..But Don’t Touch!!!


This Porcupine is slowly making its escape after finding that I was not put off by the display of weapons.

A small population of porcupines occupies our area but sightings are quite rare. Encountering one this evening was definitely a special treat.

As the porcupine is a slow moving critter, catching up to it was not difficult as it moved along the wood edge. Photographing it was an entirely different matter. For quite some time the porcupine maintained a defensive posture.

In case you are not familiar with the defensive posture of the porcupine allow me to describe it. Quills raised, butt pointed towards the danger, head held low and turned only enough to allow them to keep visual track of the position of the intruder, not a position that lends itself to quality images.

After some time the porcupine tired of the game and moved off towards the nearest tree. Soon it was safely out of reach of danger high in the uppermost branches but not before I had captured the image displayed above.

10 comments:

Chad Oneil Myers said...

Great recent posts Dad.

Kekiinani said...

Ahhhhhh,, so cute... I have never seen a real porcupine... Great post and a wonderful shot.. :)

Anonymous said...

They are even more rare around here. I don't know of any being seen for years. It would be a treat to see one and to get a photo would be special. I like your photo and I hope the little guy makes it in life.

Kerri Farley said...

I have never seen one of these "in the wild" either. A fabulous capture, Salty!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Salty: I've seen them in a tree while deer hunting and it's fun to see them on the ground.

Tom said...

A true cuntry capture for sure Salty. :0)

Louise said...

Great picture. It looks so cuddly. God for it that it is not cuddy!

photowannabe said...

I have never seen one in the wid before. Thanks for sharing. Its a fascinating creature with those sharp quills.

Shelley said...

Your caption is perfect for today's photo. Never have seen a porcupine - they look smaller than I thought but stil handsome.

Meggie said...

Cute little guy...but I won't touch, for sure!