Porcupine takes up residence in our yard

After nearly seven years in this neighborhood, I keep thinking I have seen it all in the way of wildlife. Not so. We have a new guest or, we are hoping, resident in our yard here in Castle Pines Village. Yet another amazing Colorado creature has shown itself .

In early December my husband, Kevin, called my cell one morning after I had left the house to tell me a giant porcupine was sauntering across our driveway. Before he could gather his thoughts and a camera, the big, bulky creature retreated to his hideout--a culvert that runs underneath our street on the south side of our yard.

Our street is not more than 100 yards east of a dedicated wildlife corridor along Daniels Park Road here in Douglas County. This zone of protection is what facilitates visits, I think, from fellow world travelers--elk, bobcats, deer, foxes, wild turkeys, owls, bears, coyotes, occasional mountain lions and a wide variety of smaller creatures such as snakes, salamanders, rabbits, colorful birds, voles and field mice. Our yard offers its very own animal kingdom.

In researching porcupines, I learned that they are among Colorado rodent natives and can weigh up to thirty-five pounds, second in size only to beaver. Their approximately 30,000 quills, and their abilities to puff them out when threatened, create a somewhat deceptive appearance size-wise.

Porcupines are mostly nocturnal. Their only significant predators in this region are humans because only vehicles and guns can take them down. They have a vicious manner of self defense. Foolish creatures, such as dogs and humans, get too close to porcupines and pay the price. Porcupine quills, slapped into intruders with thick, powerful tails, are needle sharp and barbed. Once they pierce flesh, removal is tortuous.

In warm months, these waddling herbivores munch clover and a variety of plants. In winter, they gnaw bark and twigs. They use their long claws to scale to the tops of trees where they disappear among foliage, relax and chew. They are also drawn to salt, which is why many porcupines spotted in the open are dead on the road in states that use salt to diffuse snow and ice.

For weeks, the story of the porcupine living in the culvert beside our house seemed a possible hoax. Only my husband, one son and a friend across the street claimed to have seen the thing they described as “a slow moving boulder”. My younger son and I were skeptics until last night when my husband came in and alerted us to look out the window. There was Culvert (as our new guest has been tagged), making his way up a huge pine tree right outside our window. He scaled to near the top, made himself comfortable among the branches and became part of the tree to the human eye.

We like Culvert and want him to stay. He is quite shy and seems to enjoy the privacy of the long, dark tunnel under our street. The last thing I want to do is blow our friend’s cover. No paparazzi, please.