XI 



THE PORCUPINE 



AMONG our wild animals there are three that 

 are slow-moving, dull-witted, and almost fearless, 

 the skunk, the opossum, and the porcupine. 

 The two latter seem to be increasing in most 

 parts of the country. The opossum is becoming 

 quite common in the valley of the Hudson, and 

 the porcupine is frequently met with in parts of 

 the country where it was rarely or never seen 

 forty years ago. 



When the boys in late fall now go cooning 

 where I used to go cooning in my youth, the 

 dogs often run on a porcupine or drive him up 

 a tree, and thus the sport is interrupted. Some- 

 times the dog comes to them with his mouth 

 stuck full of quills, and is then compelled to 

 submit to the painful operation of having them 

 withdrawn. 



A sportsman relates that he once came upon 

 a dead porcupine and a dead bald eagle lying 

 upon the ground within a few yards of each 

 other. The eagle had partly torn the porcupine 



