# porcupine



## turk877 (Mar 10, 2010)

we were used to seeing a porcupine when we went to the property, he had a bad front foot and usually did not go far from his home area.This past weekend we went out and he was dead as well as another that was dead not 10 yards away..any ideas? there was no blood and the are was not torn up and the porcupines had not been found by any animals yet.


----------



## SPITFIRE (Feb 10, 2005)

turk877 said:


> we were used to seeing a porcupine when we went to the property, he had a bad front foot and usually did not go far from his home area.This past weekend we went out and he was dead as well as another that was dead not 10 yards away..any ideas? there was no blood and the are was not torn up and the porcupines had not been found by any animals yet.


 Maybe their just quilling time?


----------



## Jumpshootin' (Jul 6, 2000)

A hard winter.


----------



## srconnell22 (Aug 27, 2007)

How do porcupines mate? Very carefully 

Obviously he wasn't careful enough! :lol:


----------



## Shotgun (Jun 10, 2000)

turk877 said:


> This past weekend we went out and he was dead as well as another that was dead not 10 yards away..any ideas? there was no blood and the are was not torn up and the porcupines had not been found by any animals yet.


That's the best way to find porcupines. :yikes:


----------



## DANIEL MARK ZAPOLSKI (Sep 23, 2002)

a 22 to the head. i never saw a dead porky i didn't like.:evilsmile


----------



## RDS-1025 (Dec 1, 2008)

SPITFIRE said:


> Maybe their just quilling time?


That's Freakin Hilarious.:lol::lol::lol:


----------



## red&spot (Mar 11, 2010)

Shotgun said:


> That's the best way to find porcupines. :yikes:


 I've been finding lots of live ones the last couple years- is the porky population up ? or is it cause Spot's such a good porky dog:lol: PS- they're not live when we leave:evilsmile


----------



## Thunderhead (Feb 2, 2002)

DANIEL MARK ZAPOLSKI said:


> a 22 to the head. i never saw a dead porky i didn't like.:evilsmile


Killing a porky , or any animal just for the sake of killing it ain't cool....at all.

Porkies are a great survival food in desperate situations. Easy to catch, self basting, and , after cooking, they also taste like thay have been seasoned.

Leave'em be.


----------



## stagliano (Nov 10, 2006)

Thunderhead said:


> Killing a porky , or any animal just for the sake of killing it ain't cool....at all.
> 
> Porkies are a great survival food in desperate situations. Easy to catch, self basting, and , after cooking, they also taste like thay have been seasoned.
> 
> Leave'em be.


Nice to read a little intelligence on the board.


----------



## junkman (Jan 14, 2010)

Same thing that killed the wolverine=chupacabra:lol:


----------



## LumberJ (Mar 9, 2009)

stagliano said:


> Thunderhead said:
> 
> 
> > Killing a porky , or any animal just for the sake of killing it ain't cool....at all.
> ...


I'll second that


----------



## DANIEL MARK ZAPOLSKI (Sep 23, 2002)

Thunderhead said:


> Killing a porky , or any animal just for the sake of killing it ain't cool....at all.
> 
> Porkies are a great survival food in desperate situations. Easy to catch, self basting, and , after cooking, they also taste like thay have been seasoned.
> 
> Leave'em be.


well its quite apparent you have never lost a dog to the quill or even owned one that got severly quilled. i know of many a dog hunter who has had both happen and every porky is a dead porky PERIOD. as for a survival food i would say yes back in the 1700's-1800's here in michigan,( they also ate woodchucks) but not in the year 2010. if you get lost in michigan you are either trying to or just don't have the woods savy one needs to be in the woods. not to mention if you're that lost that you need to catch a porky and eat it you shouldn't be allowed off the street:lol: or out of the vehicle:lol::lol:


----------



## Linda G. (Mar 28, 2002)

I just porky train the dog, it's easy, just like snake training. Your dog will never go near a porky, alive or dead, again.


----------



## Rasputin (Jan 13, 2009)

Linda G. said:


> I just porky train the dog, it's easy, just like snake training. Your dog will never go near a porky, alive or dead, again.


 
Any helpful hints as to how one goes about this? I wouold be willing to give this a shot.

The other reason to eradicate them is the damage they do. A couple are one thing, but if they get to be too numerous, they can damage valuable trees. Sort of like overgrown termites.


----------



## JAG (Aug 19, 2005)

turk877 said:


> we were used to seeing a porcupine when we went to the property, he had a bad front foot and usually did not go far from his home area.This past weekend we went out and he was dead as well as another that was dead not 10 yards away..any ideas? there was no blood and the are was not torn up and the porcupines had not been found by any animals yet.


Maybe they ran into each other in the dark!!

My neighbor had a forester out to his property last summer to investigate a dead stand of timber. About 1 acre. He showed Bill where every dead tree was girdled by porkies. The forester told him that's what happens when they winter in your trees over a few years.


----------



## Thunderhead (Feb 2, 2002)

DANIEL MARK ZAPOLSKI said:


> well its quite apparent you have never lost a dog to the quill or even owned one that got severly quilled. i know of many a dog hunter who has had both happen and every porky is a dead porky PERIOD. as for a survival food i would say yes back in the 1700's-1800's here in michigan,( they also ate woodchucks) but not in the year 2010. if you get lost in michigan you are either trying to or just don't have the woods savy one needs to be in the woods. not to mention if you're that lost that you need to catch a porky and eat it you shouldn't be allowed off the street:lol: or out of the vehicle:lol::lol:


Who are you to say what lives or dies based on your value of it's life ?
That porkie has every bit as much right to live as you do. He's part of the natural world.........unlike the morons that tramps around the weeds a few times a year, calling themselves a woodsman and killing animals that they deem unfit fit to live.


----------



## fulldraw (Nov 20, 2002)

If we weren't supposed to kill porkies how come the state has an open season all year for them. 

Species with Year-round Hunting Seasons

The following small game species may be taken year-round with any valid hunting license* except within state park and recreation areas from April 1 to September 14:

* opossum
* porcupine
* red squirrel
* skunk
* thirteen-lined ground squirrel 
* woodchuck
* weasel


----------



## TVCEAST05 (Feb 1, 2007)

My german shorthair has found a mouthful of quills two days in a row. Nothing too bad. Hopefully she has learned her lesson.


----------



## TVCEAST05 (Feb 1, 2007)

fulldraw said:


> If we weren't supposed to kill porkies how come the state has an open season all year for them.
> 
> Species with Year-round Hunting Seasons
> 
> ...


The way I grew up is if you kill it you eat it....or at least put it to some kind of use.


----------



## Lucky Dog (Jul 4, 2004)

mechanical head said:


> . Porkies are safe by my gun, not saying the same for guy to my right or left.


I'll second that. I've run dogs in Michigan for over 30 years now and can't even count how many time I've had to pull quills or make a vet run. Last year, I lost a dog from complications of a good quilling. Still don't feel the need to shoot them. 
I think the argument that they cause tree damage is lame, How about the buck that girdles a tree, I guess he should be eliminated too, or the deer that always eat my apple trees? Cars do more damage to dogs every year than do porcupines, guess we should get rid of cars too....

It seems that maybe old Thunderhead and myself share the belief that you don't just kill things because you can, Maybe it is a generational thing, or maybe it is just a respect for nature I don't know..........


----------



## 12970 (Apr 19, 2005)

I have only seen pocrupines and the damage they have done, pine trees, sheds, blinds and other wood they love to eat. I have tried just about every chemical, that is out there to discourage them from eating buildings and none has worked. The amount of damage is just too much to let them continue. Though you rarely see them but at night. The do a lot of damage and thus the cost is too much to let them go on. They also cause issues with cattle and sheep as well as dogs. Being they are a rodent they have no real reason to be around. 

For some it is achoice just like most things in life. But to tell someone what they can and can't do is just another reason why so many things have gone down hill. I guess once you have seen the damage you might change you mind but again it is just one reason why I can't afford to spent so much money planting trees and repairing buildings just to have them damage them. But you do what you want and I will do what I have to lessen my added work I have to do to keep stuff from being damaged. If you want to come out and trap them then come on, I have tried for a long time now and never had one caught. So when I see them I can't let them go on...

Newaygo1


----------



## DANIEL MARK ZAPOLSKI (Sep 23, 2002)

just whacked 2 today turkey hunting, if any of you survivalist or whoever want them i have the gps cords you're welcome to your dinner:lol:n 44* 48'35.8" w083*25'28.5"---n44*48'18.7" w083*25'22.4" i bet thats got your lips a smacking just thinking about all those natural seasonings


----------



## dallasdog (Nov 17, 2009)

id never shoot one just to kill it, however, my dog got into one last year only got one lone quill in his nose, my dog is hard headed and was going back to get even .... i killed that one, tell ya the truth i felt bad but not bad enough to see who was gona win the battle. it is not illeagle to shoot them so i dont care it others do it. nor would i stop them if i was hunting with them. just not something i practice. if they were damaging my property and i caught them in the act i would probably dispatch it, but just to shoot one in the woods for no reason is not me.


----------

