ooded mergansers and woodpeckers need homes too, and porcupines are part of nature's snag-making team.
             Porcupines hurt my dog, you say? Well, most dogs learn from that first painful mistake and don't go near porcupines again. Only one of my family's six hunting dogs hasn't gotten a snootful of quills in recent years, and only one needed a second dose to learn the lesson. The other grousers now bark, from a distance, at the quill-pig.
             Because of such mishaps, some porcupines are shot on sight. That's a real shame because the porky isn't only the prickliest resident of the Northwoods, it's also one of the most interesting.
             Porkies are the second-largest rodent in Wisconsin after the North American beaver. They can weigh 30 pounds or more in summer but their weight drops dramatically during the lean months of winter. Porcupines live in the northern two-thirds of the state in a territory that extends in a V-shape from about the Ellsworth area in Pierce County down to Wisconsin Dells and back up toward Green Bay.
             Porcupines, like most rodents, are vegetarians. Their winter diet consists of conifer needles, buds and the bark of pines, hemlock, maples and birch. How these critters survive on foods with a protein content of only two to three percent is truly amazing.
             Porcupines are sloppy eaters who drop a lot of greenery that provides a welcome snack for white-tailed deer during deep snows. If you spot a small pile of freshly-snipped branches on a winter walk, it's likely porcupines are nearby. Their winter dens are easy to find -- just follow your eyes and nose. Porcupines winter in caves and hollow logs. They travel the same paths every day. Near their dens you'll see distinctive fecal piles and smell the strong scent of concentrated urine.
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