R-TJSH 



-2- 



10/28/31 



The dcm.-^c porcupines do other anim-^.ls rrith thosu sl.ashing 

 tr.ils 6f theirs is smMl coniparcd to tho d.-^inagc they do mrji nhcn over- 

 abundant in feeding upon crops ^xiC trees! ' There arc two hinds of por- 

 cupines in this cotu'try — tho ycllo\7 or haired Western porcupine and the 

 nhite .and olad: or Tiastcrn porcupine. Both arc ■bro\7nish hlack or blade 

 in gcncr-^l ar)pc-Tojicc — the ycllo-7 or '.7hitc is just the trimr.iincs, -Jid 

 both r-^^ige over the higher l^nds of the northern mrts of our coxmtry ^nd 

 r/ay utd into C-'^j^.'^jda, -jid both have pretty r.iuch tho sr-jiic h' bitS of dnianging 

 forest tre.s. In fact, in some Dlaccs, the porcupine drmagc to trees is 

 second onl"" to that of fire. 



Durin/^ the spring r^zid surr.ier months, porcupines feed on juicy 

 ground vegetation, but during the fall and winter their diet is largely 

 of bark and loaves of coniferous trees. 



During the late sur.imcr, and fall -^aid v/intgr months they often 

 completely girdle the main leaders or boles of trees by eatin/;- the i'^ner 

 I'^yer of bark. It seems to take a piece of bark about the size of a nan's 

 hat for one full meal for a single porcupine. Manj' seedlings up to give 

 years old are completely stripped of bark and the bigger trees are some- 

 times dai.iaged so much th- t they die, Hore often, the damage results in 

 the production of a weakened bushy- topped, or spike-top, tree tliat is use- 

 less for como.ercial purposes. 



In the humid Northwest with the first cold fall rains, porcu- 

 pines begin a slow deliberate migration from mountain meadows and valley 

 farms bad: to the shelter of cliffs and lava rock dens, from which the^- 

 issue forth to feed on the bark of nearby trees. In the Southwest, the 

 porcupines move down from the hi;:;her elevation t-^. congregate for the winter 

 in the shelter of the forests. Tliey stay in :he trees feeding off the 

 bark and so girdling m-an^" of the branches and the upper "oart of the tree 

 bole. Deep snow sometimes holds a porcupine to a single tree for one to 

 three months. TJit ^ the molti:ig of the snow, they stcrt back to ground 

 feeding, 



llhere there are no rock outcroppi i::s suitable f'^r dons, the 

 migration routes can be traced by the "porcu.pine trees". Tliat is, in 

 traveling, they feed upon ground vegetation by night, and seek safctj,/' durir 

 the day in certain trcv.s tlvat have been used before or by other porcupines 

 TDassing over the sane route. 



These rest trees show some slight damage, but not the heaver 

 damage of trees used by porcvipines for a winter hone. They offer a -olace 

 of attack for people interested in saving the tim.ber. However, there is 

 a Leaflet, ITo, 60-L, on "Porcupine Control in the Western States," which 

 gives va.luable information to those interested in tliat i:hase of the subject 



And s"cal:ing of control of rodents and dr?mage to trees, let's 

 not overlook the field mico, Tliey are not so big as the porcupines, and 

 maybe not so interesting. But they have big^jer families, Iiavc them oftener 

 and range from one end of our country to the other and beyond, 



Tiic damage they do varies a great deal from year to :"ear, 

 dcpcndi.ig upon how many there arc, their food supplies, and weather con- 

 ditions. You can set it down th"t the dnmage they do to pastures, and 



