Whoa, what was that animal recently observed running up the driveway? It was too far away to easily identify it but it ran with a side to side gait, not very fast, and was the size of a fat house cat. So, at the time I concluded it was a fat house cat. Since the coyotes have returned to the neighborhood, the feral cat population seems to be down, but maybe this one was more clever to evade the coyotes.
Then a few days later, on the road at the entrance to the driveway, what do we see but the same animal--this time close enough so that it was obvious, it was a porcupine.
(Photo courtesy of istockimages)
We are familiar with porcupines, having some experience with them in Bandera County, and and greater experience with this animal in Michigan. The territory of the porcupine ranges throughout the world in one form or another, but here in the USA the territory of the Porcupine ranges from Alaska through the lower forty eight states with the exception of the great plains (no trees) and the southeastern part of the country in general. The range map shows the territory more clearly.
Range map of the American Porcupine
Over many years, the range of the porcupine in Texas has been moving slowly eastward. It may take decades and then maybe never, for the porcupine to habit all of Texas.
There are a lot of stories that circulate around regarding the porcupine, one of which is that they have the ability to "shoot" their quills out like arrows from a bow. Not so, but these quills are anchored quite loosely in their skin, so if a predator attempts to bite the porcupine, the quill being barbed on its tip, is then lodged in the predator's mouth. Dogs have to learn this danger, but coyotes seem to know it instinctively. I have seen dogs with their mouths full of porcupine quills.
Another story about porcupines is one from Michigan during WWII. At that time, Michigan was issuing new license plates for cars and trucks on an annual schedule. Aluminum and steel were in short supply, so someone in the government decided that fiberboard plates, made from wood chips, would suffice for a year. In the city, the plates did last the year, but for those vehicles parked in the wooded areas, the porcupine ate the license plates right down to the mounting bolts. They like wood and are strict herbivores.
Some think hedgehogs (think Europe) and porcupines are the same animal, but that is not the case. The hedgehog does have quills but their quills are not barbed. Furthermore, the hedgehog is an omnivore. Yes, they look similar, but are not the same, only distantly related. For those interested in the Scientific name of our native porcupine it is Erethizon dorsatum.
Other Observations
Taking a backward glance at the St. Valentine's day polar vortex that gave us that very cold week in February, it appears as if our earlier observations were correct in that the Palo Verdes are coming back from the roots, the Huisache has been told to move back south of San Antonio and the same goes for the orchardman's olive trees.
It will be an interesting observation to note how many years it takes the Huisache to move back to Hays County to the extent that it had established itself---- it maybe many years. Perhaps shrubby trees read too many reports on global warming and decided to make the move north only to be disappointed.
Similar story goes for olive trees. I once wanted several olive trees for the yard, but every nursery I contacted was south of San Antonio and thought, since I lived in the Hill Country, that I was being foolhardy, but I wanted olive trees for the decorative effect, plus the olives are good in some drinks. Despite this discouragement from the south-of-San Antonio nurseries , several olive "ranches" developed up in the northern part of Hays County about 6 years ago. Why they started this big investment when they probably received the same advice I received was a mystery to me at the time. Think tourism. The world is not short of olive oil, but olive oil does fit into the specialty market as do the wines of the Hill Country, so olive orchards were planted for their tourism appeal. That tourism area, if you hadn't noticed lies to the north of a latitudinal line beginning in northern Hays County. South of this line, outdoor tourism is essentially nonexistent. So, the olive trees are gone, and I would doubt that replanting is in progress.
We noted the first (to us) flock of Canada Geese flying in formation on the coattails of the cold front that went through a few days ago. Seems earlier than usual.
Then another strange observation. A fawn, new enough to still have a strong showing of spots showed up with its mother. I don't keep good track of this information, but it sure does seem late in the year for a fawn with spots.
Spotted fawn on the left (through blinds)
I considered that it may have been an Axis deer as they have spots into maturity, but they are rare here and besides, my experience is that a Whitetail would usually run them off, especially if there is food around.
Time will tell if we see it again and its five feet tall and has spots, eh?
