342 THE TRAPPER. 



for weeks, and even for months, without seeing porcupine 

 sign; while in other districts of the same province, in 

 New Brunswick, and especially in Nova Scotia, they are 

 plentiful. I am told by trappers that they also abound in 

 certain districts of the nor'-west. They are of no value 

 to the trapper, but the quills, when dyed, are used by the 

 Indian squaws for ornamenting birch-bark boxes, &c. 

 They are great enemies to dogs. 



The smell of this (to the sportsman) obnoxious animal 

 is so strong that his dogs cannot help finding it, and its 

 movements are so slow that they seldom fail to catch it ; 

 but here their difficulties only commence. A young, 

 plucky dog will tackle a porcupine, and even kill it; 

 while his blood is up he never i'eels the quills, or if he 

 does they only serve to irritate him the more. After- 

 wards the poor beast is a pitiable object; his mouth, 

 throat, tongue, and nose are one mass of quills, and many 

 a good dog has to be shot in consequence. The quills are 

 very sharp, and notched or barbed at the point; they 

 stick firmly in anything they touch, even in the stock of 

 a gun, and leave the porcupine as easily as they stick into 

 an attacking substance. As pulling them out of a dog's 

 flesh causes great pain and inflammation, I have found 

 that the best way is to cut them off with a sharp knife or 

 scissors. In course of time the points that remain in the 

 dog work out of themselves. If the dog recovers he will 

 seldom tackle a porcupine a second time. 



The movements of a porcupine on the ground are 

 clumsy and absurd in the extreme ; he waddles along 

 very slowly, with his head down and his tail up. The 

 Indians say that in the daytime he is ashamed of himself 



