THE PORCUPINE IN MAINE 



A RECENT addition to the variation series ^ for the Darwin hall is 

 a fine albino Canada porcupine, obtained from " Flint, the Porcu- 

 pine ^lan," who turns the porcupines of Maine, usually considered 

 a nuisance, to good account by harboring them in his woodlands and supply- 

 ing them to zoological gardens. Some years ago the state of Maine put a 

 bounty on porcupines, the principal result of which was to show that the 

 state's supply of porcupines was greater than its supply of dollars. A 

 letter received from Professor W. Lyman Underwood of the Massachusetts 

 Institute of Technology states authoritatively the situation in Maine, and 

 all who have studied the question of the country's wild animal life in regard 

 to preservation, where not directly in opposition to the interests of man, will 

 appreciate the following quotation: 



For several years prior to 1903 some of 

 the lumbermen of Maine tried to get the legis- 

 lature to do som'ething to exterminate the 

 porcupines, which they claimed were killing 

 a great many hemlock and i)oplar trees. To 

 this end in the year 1903 the town treasurers 

 of the state were authorized by the legislature 

 to pay a bounty of twenty-five cents for each 

 animal that had been killed, the front feet and 

 the nose to be handed in as evidence. The 

 state appropriated four thousand dollars to 

 pay these boimties. 



As you know, the legislature of Maine 

 meets only once in two years. In the two 

 years in which this law was in effect over 

 146,000 porcupines were killed and paid for at 

 an expense of something over iti;36,000. In the 

 little town of Princeton, Maine, whose popu- 

 lation then was 1100, the treasiu-er paid the 

 bounty on 2600 porcupines in the first eight 

 montlis. At the next meeting of the legisla- 

 ture the law was very properly repealed. 



In my opinion more timljer was lost in the 

 two years in which the boimty was in effect 

 than could have been charged to the porcu- 

 pines for half a century. Porcupine hunters 

 were responsible for this loss of timber. 

 Men and boys roamed the forests after porcu- 

 pines. Many fires were started by irresponsi- 

 ble people: trees were cut down to dislodge the 

 animals where the hunters did not carry any 

 guns. I have heard timber owners themselves 

 speak of the damage done l)y the hunters. 



Krom my own personal observation I have 

 never .seen any very extensive damage to trees 

 (lone by porcupines. Now and then I find a 

 I)()plar tree whose top has been pretty well 

 eaten up, and sometimes small hemlocks where 

 the bark has been taken olT l)y those animals. 

 Of course they do get into a good many camps 

 and do some damage in that way, but person- 

 ally I would much rather see the creatures 

 around in the woods than have them extermi- 

 nated. 



' .\mong th(5 (exhibits in course of preparation for the Darwin hall, arc series illustrating 

 variation under domt'stication atid variation in nature, the last to include such accidental 

 or abnormal variations as albinos and mclanos. 



148 



