You might guess, given the fact that we’re publishing this video, that the answer to this question is Yes, porcupines can climb trees. In fact, the very first porcupine we ever saw here was up in a tree. Dan was out looking for roosting owls one afternoon about 10 years ago and, as he stared up into the branches of a big live oak tree, he was astonished to see a porcupine staring back at him.
That’s the only time we’ve seen a porcupine in person, but our cameras catch them quite often – we learn about them when we read the overnight reports of our livestream watchers. They tell us about porcupines visiting the main water bowl and lumbering slowly along the trails.
The other critters, fortunately, give them a wide berth, although we do occasionally see raccoons with quills in their faces. Luckily, the quills seem to work their way out after a week or so, but it’s horrible to see them and very worrying.
Our thanks to Lorie Shaull for the wonderful photo we’ve used as our thumbnail. It was published on Wikimedia Commons, and we are grateful to Lorie for her generosity in making it available.
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