Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

You might remember that some time back I wrote about my early morning encounter with the porcupine ; he/she came back. Apparently this tree, which he/she is pictured in, is fast becoming a favorite--it is after all one of those really great climbing/sitting in trees, so it is obvious that the porcupine has good taste. RugbyGirl and I were sitting outside chatting the other night when I heard some kind of small animal noises; setting off the motion sensor lights allowed us to see the little quilled wonder, who was this time sitting under the tree, chewing on bark and watching us. Seeing as how this was our second meeting I felt that I could approach him/her again in a friendly fashion and got within about two feet before our neighbor raised quills to greet me. TSO said he wasn't taking me to the vet if I got quilled--how thoughtful--and I guessed he had a point, so I backed away and left the porcupine to continue his late night snack. Some days I feel like I am living in a Nati...

I am a firm believer that sometimes things happen for a reason. Take this morning for example. I forgot to put on deoderant after getting out of the shower; realizing this fact when I got to work, I walked back home--easy, since I live about 40 paces from work--and met our new neighbor. He/she's pictured below. And to think, I would have missed my encounter if I'd remembered my deoderant this morning!! From National Geographic I learned: The Porcupine's Latin name means "quill pig" Porcupines can have 30,000 or more quills Porcupines love to eat wood Some porcupines even have "prehensile" (gripping) tails, which helps while climbing trees Porcupines can get up to 3 feet long and weigh as much as 35 pounds For more info on our North American porcupines click  here .

"The American black bear is the smallest of the three bears species found in North America, and are found only in North America. Black bears have short, non-retractable claws that give them an excellent tree-climbing ability... Height: 2-3 feet at shoulders Length: 4-7 feet from nose to tip of tail Weight: Males weigh an average of 150-300 lbs. Have been known to weigh from 500-600 lbs.; females are smaller Lifespan: Can live 20-25 years in the wild, although there is increased mortality around 10 years of age..." Wanted some information about the American black bear, so I did some reading at the Defenders of Wildlife page. For more info, click here . Why, you ask, did I do reading on the American black bear? Well, dear readers, the Farm has a returning visitor who likes to climb into our dumpster and pull bags of garbage out and into the woods. Yes, it is a black bear. The bear has been spotted by various farmers and after repeatedly hearing about these sightings, I was ...