Prickly Predicament All during the spring of 1995, Links Golf Course tried to persuade us to live trap a porcupine that was eating their pine trees. We kept trying to work with them and educate them on how to live with the animal. They would agree, then another tree would be eaten and they would request us to trap it again. We were hoping to leave the animal in the habitat that it was familiar with. We informed them that porcupines are nomadic creatures and the animal would probably move on. Indeed, the porcupine did seem to move on during the summer, as they didn't see him or any signs of him during that period. Then, late in September, Links called us again to inform us that the porcupine had gotten into one of the bathrooms. They told us that they had closed the door on the animal, trapping him, and what should they do next? We tried to talk them into letting him go. That was fine with the representative that called us, as he liked the porcupine, but he said that he had to check with his superior. We didn't have to wait long for the next phone call. They wanted him out now and no more discussion. We agreed to take the porcupine, as we were concerned some harm may come to the creature if we refused. He was an easy animal to catch (we use "he" but we don't really know if it was a boy or girl and we didn't lift up that tail and look) and he was placed in a large carrier. We had to hold him for two days while arranging a re-location site and transportation. He was a challenge to clean. He would only tolerate so much of the effort before he would slap that tail and our rag would be loaded with quills. We finally compromised. We put in lots of soft cloth on the bottom of the carrier. It was more comfortable for him and much easier for us to clean. Typical of a mild mannered porcupine, the compromise was acceptable and he calmed down. He was released in the mountains where there is an abundance of pine trees to be eaten. He ambled off without seeming to have a care in the world. With his prickly defense, he didn't need to be concerned. The many and varied defenses of the wild animals is truly amazing. Back to Rescues of Note