Porcupine 617 



stantly, and set up a loud howl in an agony of pain. His 

 mouth, tongue, and nose were full of Porcupine quills. He 

 could not close his jaws, but hurried open-mouthed out of the 

 premises. It proved to him a lesson for life, as nothing could 

 ever afterwards induce him to revisit a place where he had met 

 with such an unneighbourly reception. Although the servants 

 immediately extracted the spines from the mouth of the. dog, 

 we observed that his head was terribly swelled for several 

 weeks afterward, and it was two months before he finally 

 recovered." 



What dreadful punishment, in spite of immediate and 

 abundant human aid! What would have been the offender's 

 fate had he been a wild animal ? — assuredly death. The 

 records of natural history abundantly prove it. 



"We have mentioned in our article on the Canada Lynx 

 [say Audubon and Bachman^"] that one of those animals 

 was taken in the woods in a dying state, owing to its mouth 

 being filled with Porcupine quills. We have heard of many 

 dogs, some Wolves, and at least one Panther, that were found 

 dead, in consequence of inflammation produced by seizing on 

 the Porcupine." 



On September i6, 1901, in Rio Blanco County, Colorado, 

 I found a Fox at the point of death from the quills of a Porcu- 

 pine that he must have attacked some weeks before. 



In Forest and Stream of March 20, 1884,'° J. L. David- 

 son, of Lockport, N. Y., states that he had recently examined 

 a golden eagle that had been shot at Plessis, Jefferson County, 

 N. Y. He says: ''The feet of the eagle were full of Porcupine 

 quills, which was probably the last animal he had dined off." 



A remarkable case of a horned owl, shot shordy after it 

 had attacked a Porcupine, is detailed'' by C. E. Eifrig, of 

 Ottawa., Ont. It took place in December, 1907, at a place 50 

 miles northeast of the city; 66 Porcupine quills were taken 

 out of that misguided owl's body. 



•• Quad. N. A., 1849, Vol. I, p. 285. " P- i44- 



" Auk, Januar}^, 1909, p. 58. 



