…and What In The World Is THAT!? I call out to Bibi. What??! she answers with the same tone of urgent befuddlement as I feel.
What the heck is that?!?
There, climbing on the gate to the orchard! What is it? I am clicking away with my camera, hoping I have it set to capture what I’m seeing. I am not prepared for these shots. What the heck is it?
It is climbing the gate, making several unsuccessful tries to get over it, sometimes sitting on the ground as if puzzling out what to do next. I still don’t know what we’re looking at.
Shortly it gives up and follows the fenceline. I rush to get shoes on and run outside to see if I can get a closer look. When I get to the orchard, the creature is nowhere in sight. But then Bibi, standing on the deck, sees that it has gotten over the fence at a tree and is climbing down the tree beside the little shed that used to shelter guinea hens. Slowly I turn…tiptoeing so as not to frighten the thing off.
What the heck is it? #2
I get to where Bibi is telling me it is…I look through the chainlink fence and here is what I see looking back at me. What the heck is it?!
Very soon it scoots under the shed and out of sight.
I head into the house to consult my Texas Parks & Wildlife pdf about Texas critters. There is nothing in there that looks like this! It is not a possum, a skunk, a raccoon–the usual suspects; it is not a ringtail cat, a nutria, or a mink (who knew we have minks in Texas?)….
It’s time to google creatures we are unfamiliar with–badger (nope), muskrat (no), porcupine…. A porcupine??! Ya gotta be kidding! The only time we’ve ever seen a porcupine is one summer in Maine about 25 years ago, and that was only a glimpse as it waddled off into the forest on big soft feet (or so they seemed to us at the time), big quill-covered back swaying to and fro as it went. This did not seem to be a likely answer. Do we even have porcupines in Texas? (Better tell the Parks & Wildlife folks to amend their booklet.)
Later I slowly approach the little shed and see that the critter is still there. Maybe this is where he/she lives. Maybe this creature explains the mysterious disappearance of hundreds of apples in the orchard a few weeks ago. Maybe there are lots of porcupines in these woods. Is that possible?
Is this a porcupine?
He/she would have been sleeping except for my intrusions. Here’s another shot. It’s a cute little thing.
I’ll need to do a bit of research to learn more about this creature. I remain amazed and awed by the encounter. I feel very lucky to have made its acquaintance in the way that I did: I’ve seen photos of dogs that were really unlucky in their porcupine encounters!
More photos to follow–somewhat blurry and dark–of its attempts to get over the fence.
1/28/2013: The photos of our first views of the porcupine: