WOODCHUCKS AND PORCUPINES 



153 



out together, stand- 

 ing near their bur- 

 rows ; every once 

 in a while one of 

 the party would 

 give vent to a rath- 

 er prolonged and 

 p e c u 1 iar whistle, 

 whereupon some of 

 them would sit up 

 on their haunches, 

 and others take to 

 their burrows with 

 all possible speed." 

 As to the Rocky 

 Mountain marmot, 

 I am not positive 

 that I have ever 

 seen the species 

 alive, as it was not 

 common in any 

 locality where I 

 happened to be in 

 the West. 



The habits of the 

 two species we have 

 in this country the 

 Canada porcupine and the yellow-haired one of the 

 West are much the same; in fact, the animals are close- 



Courtesy of The University Society, Incorporated. 



WESTERN OR YELLOWHAIRED PORCUPINE 



Figure 13. Among American rodents, this Porcupine is only exceeded in size by the beaver. In 

 some parts of the country the porcupine is called the "quill-pig," but why a "pig" is not apparent. 



ly related. Person- 

 ally I am better ac- 

 quainted with the 

 latter form, as the 

 porcupines were 

 very common in 

 Wyoming in the 

 pine forests. I re- 

 member very well 

 the first one I ever 

 saw. It was a big 

 fellow; and, seeing 

 it at a distance in 

 a cotton-wood tree, 

 I took it to be a 

 bear cub and be- 

 haved accordingly. 

 That same after- 

 noon, Lieutenant 

 Rufus Brown (of 

 the 4th United 

 States Infantry) 

 shot one and 

 brought it into Fort 

 Laramie. He had 

 a fine setter dog at 

 the time, and when 

 the porcupine lay on the ground in front of his quarters, 

 this dog ran out in high glee to meet his master. Dash- 



FEMALE PORCUPJXE AND HER YOUNG 

 F.gure 14. Young porcupines are not one whit handsomer than their Mothers, and tliey in no way attract 



sometimes attain a weight of forty pounds. 



us as pets. It is said that old ones 



