OF DENISON UNIVERSITY. 
23 
observe the second excavation. If the latter presents any irregular- 
ity, however, he immediately deposits the load there and barricades 
the burrow at that point. 
The Porcupine [Erethizon dorsatiis, L.) is familiar to everyone 
from pictures and yet few have had the opportunity to observe it in its 
home in the pine forests of the north. In fact there is little to attract 
or awaken interest except for the peculiar quill like modification of the 
hair. Although a true rodent its gait and habits strangely suggest the 
hog and earn for it its popular pseudonym. Its distribution is largely 
coincident with that of the northern pine forests, though it delights to 
feed in the lush vegetation of the meadows bordering the quiet rivers. 
A visit to the pineries of north-western Wisconsin by one of us dur- 
ing midsummer of 1890 afforded especially good opportunities for the 
study of their habits. Here settlers are few and the beasts of the for- 
est still hold almost undisputed dominion. The porcupines, however, 
seem to prefer the settlement, being apparently very social in their 
tendencies and almost devoid of fear. The settlers detest them for 
their predacious habits and general ubiquity. They often nest under 
the floors of the cabins, particularly if deserted, and after the settlers 
have turned in, they enter very unceremoniously, prying into every 
thing, filling the clothes of the men with quills and working woe with 
the pork and beans designed for breakfast. In one case a crew of 
lumbermen was summarily awakened to find that an inquisitive 
“porky” had crawled into bed with them. It is needless to add that 
the previous occupants did not stop to parley, but left him in undis- 
puted possession. For these reasons the settlers usually dispatch them 
with clubs or axes, whenever they find them. This method is prefera- 
ble to shooting, for, on the one hand, they are very fat and sluggish 
animals and rarely attempt to escape, and, on the other hand, their 
reptilian tenacity to life makes the effect of a rifle ball very uncertain. 
An animal riddled with rifle balls will sometimes climb to the top of 
a tall tree to expire in its crest. Their perfect protection from their 
enemies of the forest is to be their ultimate destruction, for it has fa- 
vored those structural and mental peculiarities which make them an 
easy prey to mankind. As the settlers take possession of their native 
woods, it is perfectly obvious that the porcupines are a doomed race, 
soon to be found, like the American Bison, only in parks and zoologi- 
cal gardens. 
