Porcupines...other than the obvious

We have more porcupines on camera than ever this year.

I don't know much about their habits other than they fling their quills at will and have a 30 yard launch radius.

Do the prickly buggers burrow or nest in trees? Are they only nocturnal? Other than tree bark, what do they eat? Is it possible to live trap them and not catch a raccoon; if so, what would you use for bait?

Thx!

Whoa...I am clueless about porcupines, so forgive my ignorance, but you're saying that a porcupine can launch a quill 30 yards? I did not know that. I thought you had to brush against them to get 'stuck' with one or more quills.

The "30 yard" thing goes into the memory bank forever.

It's not just Oxner that can offer these pearls of truth and wisdom.

Porcupines cannot launch their quills. Urban myth. They can however quill up and launch their body at you but that's just a little hop.

Bill will be along shortly to confirm.

http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/porcupine.asp

Y'all ain't nuthin but dream stealers. Phooey on you.

Be only ever seen them nesting in trees

Never seen a porcupine in real life, we don't have them down here.

30 yards

that's just good stuff, sonsabitchs could launch an attack

Porcupines den for the most on the ground in rock piles, rotten logs, and caves. Less often they will den in trees (usually a hollow). They eat bark, shrubs, water plants, leafy greens like clover and skunk cabbage, and love anything salty. They are also partial to corn and love paint and the glue in plywood and can be very destructive. They chewed a bunch of holes through our outhouse walls this spring.

For the most they are nocturnal but you will occasionally see them during the daytime - much like coons. Every spring at my camp I put out a corn pile mixed with salt and kill them off with the 12 gauge. Three inch #6 turkey loads work very well as does a turkey choke as they are fairly slow. I set up on the pile about 45 minutes before sunset at 20 to 30 yards in a lawn chair with a book and a beer. Alternatively to the 12 gauge I sometimes use a 22LR or 17 HMR and take head shots. The 12 gauge works better if you are expecting multiple visitors at one time.

Killed 11 last spring at my camp - they just kept coming. It was a strange year as normally there are only 2 or 3 and they can be eliminated in a couple evenings. I had one evening last spring where I got 3 in one sit:



The biggest one on the right was 34 inches long and the middle guy was 31 inches.

Killed this one last week:



First one I have seen since the spring cull.

Have you ever eaten one? Curious.

Nope. Never had the urge. Supposedly they are not too bad but I just can't be bothered to figure out how to skin one.

I suspect you would catch coons. If I was going to live trap I would try a corn/molasses/salt mixture. If you are going to shoot them in the trap use 22LR subsonics in the head. They don't throw their quills but when you shoot them the quills can and do fly off 2 or 3 yards. The low power rounds mitigate this a fair bit.

Must be pretty good to eat. I have killed quite a few and vultures love them and it looks like a convention on a dead carcass when they find it.
I have caught them in live traps when trying to catch coons. I used corn or milo. When I tried to catch only porcupines I used the little salt wheels for rabbits or chunk of salt block in a trap set close to water or a protein feeder.

If you feed protein, porcupines will find the feed ASAP if you have any of the around. They must be able to smell very well. Most to the time they are nocturnal but have seen them this time of the year in winter during the daytime in trees or traveling.

I don't know what they taste like, but porcupines are edible. A survival course I took years ago described them as "The Woodsman's Friend" because they're slow enough that one can run them down and club them if you're stranded in the wilderness.

Thankfully I've never had to do that, yet.

Get this, porcupines can be eaten RAW. Their liver is especially prized when chilled and eaten fresh and raw.

Hannibal? Are you there?

After dispatching one how do you pick one up to move it? Very carefully? By the feet?

no quills on the belly?

No belly quills.

I use a pitchfork.

Intercontinental Ballistic Quills.

Thanks for the replies. Going to give the salted corn a try in a few weeks.

The ones I have shot stunk so bad it would make you sick. Do they all have that musky smell or is it just the boars?

Goes well with some Fava beans and a nice Chianti.

It's the females actually. In general they don't stink anymore or less than any other critter in the woods. The females however go into heat in the fall and excrete a pretty powerful smell to attract the males during this time. So if it's the fall and smelly than probably a female in heat.

We have a lot of porcupines on our place. Early in the morning you can see them sitting in the mesquite trees. My old dog liked to play with them, about 4 times anyways. And you can definitely catch up to them on foot and give them a love tap. No ballistic quills were fired during any encounters that I have seen.

30 yards? We've been evolving all wrong...

I killed about 20 of them last year and almost all were up in live oak trees eating bark. They can do an amazing amount of damage to the tree. They must be kin to beavers. I have caught a few in leg hold traps and cages but so seldom that I can't offer any advice. They sure play havoc with dogs and cows. I am not a fan. Occasionally I'll run into one waddling along during the day or night but it is very infrequent. Look for them in live oaks.

Shot this on in Valera Tx ugly critters! Had to pick quills out of gloves!