porcupines

how far south are they being seen? saw 2 that were road kill about five years ago just north of Vernon on 287

See them all the time in Val Verde County.

I've seen one in Hood County.

Have a couple massive ones in bandera county

Killed one in my yard and one down the street. Northwest Bexar County.

We have them in Jucntion.

We have tons of them just north of uvalde

My dogs have run in to them quail hunting in the panhandle and I've seen them in Frio county. I thought they were all over the state.

Our neighbors dogs chase everything. They spent hours picking the quills out after they found the porcupines.

Never have seen one in north east Texas.

None in east TX - always assumed it was an east/west thing.

My brother saw one on our lease in Cotulla early this year

that is getting way south, thought that would be too hot for them. I used to see them in NM, really surprised me to see them around Vernon.

used to see them all the time at our lease in Walker County

Seen them in Irion and Jack county

Only ones I've seen in TX were in Ozona.

I've seen several in east Texas and several in the hill country

Saw one last week in blanco county

They are much more common than what people think but they mainly come out at night

I used to see quite a few but they have seemed to have slowed down lately.

I was born and raised in the Nacogdoches/Rusk/Houston county area. Have hunted there all my life (52 years.)Thousands and thousands of hours in the woods, day and night. Multiply that by all my friends, family, and everyone else I have come in contact with, because I have never seen a porcupine there and never heard of anyone who has - at least in those three counties.

Not saying they are not there but, if they are, they must be exceedingly rare. Or ghosts.

Very common in Concho. Never seen one in east Texas

Are the quills any good for anything other than decorative purposes?

Make great hat bands.

They're good for ruining a quail hunt.

have not heard of any here in Bastrop or Caldwell counties

I took this photo near Uvalde

I never met one I didn't kill.

I've killed a few in Bandera County.
And regardless of rumors, they are not good to eat. Those quills are not protecting a beautiful light meat delicacy. Just tough greasy meat.

I used to be a Porcupine.

We've seen them in burnet county.

See them on a regular basis in Llano/Burnet counties.

Do tell.

Porcupines are big foots main food source


However High fences have made them easier to catch and therefore they are getting scarcer

Never seen one or even heard of one in S Texas, from Victoria to the border. I've never seen one in real life.

It was our school mascot.

Had some in San Saba county.

Here's a map of their range from 2015. My dad has them on his land in Wichita Falls. His dog got ahold of one last winter. Bad deal for the dog.

Springtown?

Yes. I believe we're the only ones in the state. Maybe anywhere.

apparently they have been seen in Chaparral WMA south of Cotulla acc'd to the Rangers

my nephew's dog got into one in western Burnet county 5-6 years ago, I saw one in northern Burnet county during deer season the fall of 2013, that kinda surprised me!

Rancher on a lease I was on in Terrell County a few years ago was given a GSP by one of the other hunters. She would not quit going after porcupines. On about the fifth muzzle and throat full of quills, he put her down. Sad.

Used to run dogs on prison land, chasing hogs, and one time one of my bay dogs came back with a face full. First time I had ever heard of them in East Texas.

In the late 60's my buddy's airedale came in with face full. Everyone said must have been a bird brought in piece of hide, must have been big hide to have that many quills. This was in Tilman co. OK

For a while there were 5 hitting a feeder every night in Eastland county. I had no idea they would eat corn, but they will

Never seen one, hope it stays that way. Seems dog encounter with those are worse than skunks.

Yes. My grandfather used them as fishing corks when cat fishing with a cane pole. He used chicken blood on a treble hook with a small spilt shot above. The quills are bouyant and really indicate the slightest nibbles. Hadn't thought about that in a while.

I maybe wrong, but i think he probably used the quills from African porcupines much larger 4-5 inches long

You may be right. They were 10-12 inches long and looks like this.

Fun to play wack a mole with them, they couldn't out run a 3 year old

yes! my dad used them. thought he would cry when could no longer buy them.lol

Grew up in the north east and saw them occasionally while hunting in upstate NY. I was fascinated when I found several on my place in Dickens county. When I found them in NY they were always in large deciduous trees. Finding them in the Texas plains as a surprise.

Saw one in Callahan county about 15 years ago and one a couple of years ago in Stephens county.

We see them all the time in Edwards and Real County. If you go out spotlighting at night, you will see one pretty much every time.

I've never had an encounter with one. I give them a wide berth.

They look really cool when they're hanging in the trees in the winter - like some kind of crazy Christmas ornament.

We're loaded up with them on the Brown/Eastland Co Line.

Feather quill not porcupine. Great fishing floats

Really, I hunt in south Eastland county and have never seen a one. I would like to though and maybe someday I will.

Mr. T you can have all of them on my lease. Like I posted earlier have had 5 eating corn at one time under a feeder. For several years I was wondering what was biting the bark on small mesquites just a bite here and there then I found out. They seem to like the inner bark of young oaks better though. Pics are of a small oak just outside of the feeder pen.

Come down the road a bit - Garrett and I had one walk right behind us while we were duck hunting in January. I'm glad I didn't have my dog with me that day. It is the 4th time I have seen one on our place. All within the last 2 years. My FiL has never seen one and hes owned it for 30++ years. I guess I'm lucky.

It does seem like the population has exploded lately. I started seeing them consistently on game cams in 2013. Now it seems like they're everywhere on us. I am worried I won't find any sheds this weekend because the pricks get to them first.

We have them in Montague. Never seen one but they leave their evidence of tearing up a random tree.

Only one I have seen in person was in Kent county south of Spur while night hunting.

Growing up between Devine and Yancey, never saw or heard of one until the early 70's, now there is a fair population of them in that area. Lots of them here around Menard. When I am hunting really hard with my hounds, I will kill two or three a week.
Adios,
Gary

Those are African porcupine quills and you can still buy them on the internet. They are not feathers spines. You can't break them, they float and work great when used correctly to detect a bite.

Seems he could have given the dog to someone who lived in a different area.

My Walker has tangled with them 3 times in 5 years. First two times I was able to deal with the quills but the last time he had 150+ in his mouth, snout, gums, tongue and down his throat. Emergency run to the vet. That one trip could have paid for a lot of ammo:



I shot 11 of them last year at my place and still seem to have some around.

I took a blue gyp to the vet this morning and we removed those that were really deep. To my knowledge, this was her first encounter with a porky and I hope it is her last. I told you that I had a problem with them and young dogs.
Adios,
Gary

My dog had a run in with one in New Mexico last month. I can assure those who "want" them around, if you have dogs you do not want them. It makes for an expensive vet visit.

We have plenty of them in Frio county. My dogs liked them too much

We've seen them on our lease near graham

My cousin lives outside of Littlefield and has a boxer that loves porcupines. So far they've had to take him to the vet 5 times and they think there's some kind of drug associated with it that he's getting addicted to. I don't know as I've never seen one or know the physiology of them but, dang.

Wow. I can't imagine my mutt going through that.

It's amazing he's not blind.

How do porcupines mate?..........very carefully.

This morning in Hamilton county

See them a lot at my place in Carta Valley

We have far too many of them at our place in Val Verde County (even one would be too many, IMO). Both of our dogs got tangled up with one a few years ago, and our female got tangled up with one the day before opening day of deer season last year. That stupid porcupine was the size of a freaking watermelon. We have a few that show up at least once every week or two on our game cams. You don't want them on your place, especially if you have dogs; those are some expensive vet bills.

Shot one south of Sweetwater several years ago but hunt Lamar County now. Never seen one out there.

Just got my bill from the vet clinic this morning for porky incident described earlier. Cost was $135, I just hope the gyp learned something.
Adios,
Gary

only till she comes across another one

brother thought he saw one in Llano few weeks ago in a tree

Erath CTY has them. If I see one he dies. FIL had one on his back porch. He beat it with a cane until it expired. Then took the quills to his friend in Gruene who sold them on Craigslist. Who would have known?

I'd have to shoot that dog.....

Lots of porcupines on our place near Abilene. During the drought, they were hammering the house area because it was the only green area in vicinity. They would strip the bark on lower half of trees and actually killed 2-3 oaks.

Ouch.

Seen them dead on the road in Sonora ( Sutton Co. )

Saw one on Monday evening at my feeder from my blind. The property is in Kaufman county near Kemp. My two nephews were with me in the blind and were amazed to see one in Kaufman county, I was too.

Coleman county around Valera is loaded with them. I have have also seen a few on the red river between Wichita Falls and Vernon.

Shoot. Them. All.