Porcupine G13 



the bark within easy reach; if there are crotches on both sides, 

 it is hively to girdle the tree, if not, it takes the easiest way, 

 which may mean go half-way around, then move to another 

 fork. 



In the summer its food is much more varied; doubtless 

 it eats all manner of foods that are allowable to a strict vege- 

 tarian. Its fondness for lily-pads is well known, and is thus 

 referred to by Merriam:'" 



"When feeding on lily-pads along the borders of water- 

 courses they sometimes utter extraordinary noises, and occa- 

 sionally quarrels arise for the possession of some log which 

 affords them easy access to the coveted plants. At Beaver 

 Lake, in Lewis County, Mr. John Constable once witnessed 

 an encounter during which one of the combatants was tum- 

 bled into the water. The animals did not attempt to bite, 

 but growled, and snarled, and pushed." 



Herrick, in his "Mammals of Minnesota,"'^ has given us 

 interesting light on this food habit. He relates that while out 

 one July night, canoeing with jacklights, "our attention is 

 attracted by a most peculiar clattering sound — evidently the 

 teeth of some animal in very rapid motion, but more rapid and 

 louder than anything we had ever heard. The source of the 

 sound we are at first unable to make out, but again we start at 

 the sound of heavy feet and crackling branches. Some heavy 

 animal comes down to the water's edge where the banks are 

 covered, with a new growth of arrow-head leaf (Sagittaria), 

 succulent and green, for it is June, and the receding waters 

 have but lately exposed the roots to the sun. The clatter of 

 teeth is again heard very loud and inexplicable, until we make 

 out the gray form of a burly Porcupine, which at once starts up 

 the bank much as an overfed hog might do. A shot brought 

 the animal to the water's edge, where, after floundering 

 about a little, it began to swim toward us evidently in a 

 vindictive mood. Another shot made it ours, and we found 

 it an immense animal measuring over 3 feet from its blunt 

 muzzle to the end of the spiny tail. The stomach of this 



"Loc. cit., p. 303. "Mam. Minn., 1892, p. 247. 



