204 
MAMMALIA. 
also feeds upon the foliage and twigs of the maple and birch, and 
not infrequently comes to the water’s edge to seek the lily-pads 
within reach from the bank. He is also partial to the staple com- 
modity of the region — the beechnut — and I have killed several 
whose stomachs were distended with beechnut-meal. 
The Porcupine is more strictly nocturnal than the majority of 
our mammals ; still, he occasionally ventures abroad in the day- 
time. The greater part of his life is spent high in the trees, 
though his den is usually concealed in some ledge of rocks. He 
is not so active during extreme cold as at other times, but is not 
known to hibernate. I have seen fresh tracks * leading to his hole 
in a rocky side-hill in January, the thermometer indicating a tem- 
perature of -2 7 0 C. If ledges are not at hand, he is sometimes 
found asleep under an old log or brush-heap, or in a hollow tree. 
When he has selected and settled himself in a tree to his likingf he 
may not leave it, day or night, until he has denuded it of the whole 
of its foliage. I have seen many hemlocks thus completely stripped, 
not a green twig remaining, even on the smallest bough. It seems 
incredible that so large and clumsy an animal should be able to 
climb out far enough on the branches to reach the terminal leaves ; 
but he distributes his weight by bringing several branches together, 
and then, with his powerful paws, bends back their ends and passes 
them through his mouth. When high in the tree-tops he is often 
passed unnoticed, mistaken, if seen at all, for the nest of a crow or 
hawk. 
He is very fond of salt and frequently comes around camp dur- 
ing the night for the purpose of obtaining it. He will eagerly lick 
a bao- that has contained salt meat, or the dirt where brine has 
been spilt. He takes pains to devour all pork and ham rinds that 
fall in his way, and, if occasion offers, will gnaw a buttertub or 
other wooden receptacle that has contained any saline substance. 
* His short legs allow his heavy body to drag in the snow, making even a deeper and broader 
rut than the otter. His footprints are nearer together than those of the otter, and are of a different 
pattern. 
