Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

You might remember the porcupines of last summer --well, it seems like it's raining porcupines these days because I've been seeing them all over the place. This little fella was running alongside my car and then hopped into a meadow and ran for it when I tried to snap a photo. Enjoy!

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 .

It's funny how the daily rituals of the animals around the Farm can occassioanlly seem less than thrilling as we grow accustomed to sharing our little world with them. Being back in Michigan this past weekend made me very aware of this fact, as the only animals I saw were family pets; gas guzzling beasts on the southeastern Michigan highways, growling and lurching all around me; and the occasional robins, indicators of spring in the midwest. I told my family and friends stories about what we'd encountered lately around the Farm and they oohed and aahed, intrigued. So, I thought I would mention the latest and greatest animal sightings (my own and others) worth noting. Moose : A few weeks back an acquaintance mentioned his having seen a moose. It was near dusk and the acquaintance was hiking one of the many Farm trails. I am assuming it was this same moose which was also reported to have been seen not far from this trail a few days later. Hearing of these si...