Porcupine - how to find them?
- Thread starter MPI
- Start date
This is the best porky bait you can get. Plywood is like crystal meth to them and they will come a chewing. They get a bit of a buzz from the glues used in the plywood and you will sometimes see them staggering like a drunk after chewing it.art.h said:just wash a piece of srap plywood with salt water, hang in the open with a bell on it it won't take long:
It only took me an hour to get the little bugger that was chewing the floor out of our supply tent last year. I cut up some small plywood strips and put them and the sawdust on the path he was using. He actually came running as fast as he could to the pile and I plugged him with the 22.
Editted to fix my spelling mistakes....
As with all animals go to where they are feeding / denning. Otherwise you are hunting for transitory animals and will not have good success.
Porcupine generally live in second growth forests or stands with a high density of small diameter timber.
I've seen many of them in British Columbia's western hemlock / pacific silver-fir stands as well as Douglas-fir and straight pine stands. I've even stepped on a few wearing caulk boots entirely by accident. I have seen porcupine feeding on western red cedar but only once in my life. Cedar is not a preferred staple (animal must have been starving).
You need to look in stands 15 - 25 years old (or 3 to 10m tall) - keep your eyes open for chlorotic or dying / dead tops. When you see these look closer and try to find chew marks (usually 4-6" across by 12" tall). These critters climb juvenile trees until they can get their mouths around the smaller diameter portions of the stem where they can feed (on the thinner bark). They are eating the cambium layer under the bark.
This causes tremendous damage in juvenile stands. You are guarateed to have a problem with porcupine where you have a large quantity of thrifty second growth juvenile forest.
When you find these feed patches you will usually find their den in the middle (almost always in the winter time). Dens are usually comprised of old hollowed out logs. You will find feces and quills all around the den.
Porcupines are extremely lazy slow animals and do not like to stray far from their den. They burn too many calories to stray far from their dens so they like to make home where there is plenty of food.
They have rather greasy meat and taste a little like pine cones however a fair amount of sustenance for 2 full grown men for one night. If you are ever starving in the bush and do not want to waste ammo or meat a sturdy crack across the bridge of their nose with a small log or 2X4 will kill them by suffocation. You will eat well for a few days if you are alone.
Your friendly neighborhood Canadian Ranger
STAY ROOTED
Riflechair.
As with all animals go to where they are feeding / denning. Otherwise you are hunting for transitory animals and will not have good success.
Porcupine generally live in second growth forests or stands with a high density of small diameter timber.
I've seen many of them in British Columbia's western hemlock / pacific silver-fir stands as well as Douglas-fir and straight pine stands. I've even stepped on a few wearing caulk boots entirely by accident. I have seen porcupine feeding on western red cedar but only once in my life. Cedar is not a preferred staple (animal must have been starving).
You need to look in stands 15 - 25 years old (or 3 to 10m tall) - keep your eyes open for chlorotic or dying / dead tops. When you see these look closer and try to find chew marks (usually 4-6" across by 12" tall). These critters climb juvenile trees until they can get their mouths around the smaller diameter portions of the stem where they can feed (on the thinner bark). They are eating the cambium layer under the bark.
This causes tremendous damage in juvenile stands. You are guarateed to have a problem with porcupine where you have a large quantity of thrifty second growth juvenile forest.
When you find these feed patches you will usually find their den in the middle (almost always in the winter time). Dens are usually comprised of old hollowed out logs. You will find feces and quills all around the den.
Porcupines are extremely lazy slow animals and do not like to stray far from their den. They burn too many calories to stray far from their dens so they like to make home where there is plenty of food.
They have rather greasy meat and taste a little like pine cones however a fair amount of sustenance for 2 full grown men for one night. If you are ever starving in the bush and do not want to waste ammo or meat a sturdy crack across the bridge of their nose with a small log or 2X4 will kill them by suffocation. You will eat well for a few days if you are alone.
Your friendly neighborhood Canadian Ranger
STAY ROOTED
Riflechair.
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the_big_mike said:
Porcupines are very tough!! I shot one with an old Savage 99 in .308 a couple years ago and the bugger kept climbing the tree after I put a 180 grain bullet through his guts. Second shot killed him but he did manage to keep his claws in the tree for a good 3 mins before he fell.
Thanks everyone some grest ideas here i will pass them on.
What you are saying is that the dog is poorly trained and should be put down. But really there is no such thing as a stupid dog only stupid trainers. If the dog is not porcupine trained it must be that my friend is as you say "stupid". That makes neither the dog nor the porcupines at fault and it is my friend that should be put down.
Of course if we could put down all the stupid people it is unlikely you would have made it this far in life...
Winters said:
Winters said:
What you are saying is that the dog is poorly trained and should be put down.
But really there is no such thing as a stupid dog only stupid trainers. If the dog is not porcupine trained it must be that my friend is as you say "stupid". That makes neither the dog nor the porcupines at fault and it is my friend that should be put down. Of course if we could put down all the stupid people it is unlikely you would have made it this far in life...
JohnC
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Check to see if you have an large dying tree or log. they like to get in the hollows. They are good climbers so check vertically.
WE found at least 5 living in a hollow in an old beech tree & in the upper branches
WE found at least 5 living in a hollow in an old beech tree & in the upper branches
You might be able to sniff them out. Usually the tree they are living in is surrounded by a giant pile of turds...........
Wanna bet????
I would guess that dog is going to get quills every single time he crosses a porqupine.
Some dogs learn from the "porky" experience and other just vow revenge. I've had both types of dogs. It was usually the smart ones (our labs) that learned from the experience and the bullheaded ones (our beagles) that would get quills all the time.
Wanna bet????
I would guess that dog is going to get quills every single time he crosses a porqupine.
Some dogs learn from the "porky" experience and other just vow revenge. I've had both types of dogs. It was usually the smart ones (our labs) that learned from the experience and the bullheaded ones (our beagles) that would get quills all the time.
gth said:You might be able to sniff them out. Usually the tree they are living in is surrounded by a giant pile of turds...........
Wanna bet????
I would guess that dog is going to get quills every single time he crosses a porqupine.
Some dogs learn from the "porky" experience and other just vow revenge. I've had both types of dogs. It was usually the smart ones (our labs) that learned from the experience and the bullheaded ones (our beagles) that would get quills all the time.
Yes I was going to say that no matter how well trained a dog is some get it and some don't, but it took away from my point.
I've de-quilled dogs dozens of times. Quills are hollow, if you clip off the end they deflate and the barbs retract. Throats ears or eye lids; it doesn't matter the quills can be removed easily with a pair of needle nose.
I am a dog lover but at the end of the day they're just dogs, not humans. For those of you that don't get what I'm saying, maybe PETA or the 'Humane' Society is where you belong.
No, you're making a leap that I didn't put there at all. I don't think anyone needs to be injured, let alone killed, over a dog.
Thanks for the insult; make it a better one next time and I'll add it to my list.
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