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DEAR JOAN: I have previously lived in five states and now, with my wife, have lived happily the last 25 years in Danville.
Our home is on Green Valley Creek where I have seen or photographed 25 wildlife species,12 of which are mammals. The creek is like a paw path so they can come and go safely.
Recently, using my wildlife night camera, for the first time in my life I got a photo of a porcupine. I showed the photo to family, neighbors, friends and even my Spanish classmates.
It’s hard to believe that none of these people have ever seen a porcupine on their property, in parks or walks through woods. Is this possible? Would this species be that rare to be among us or is it common but seldom seen in suburban places?
Some of my classmates had concern for the porcupine, wanting to know if it was a female, had babies to feed and a shelter in which to live, safe from any harm.
I think it would be helpful to all if you could give us some more information about the porcupine from the creek.
Rodney Smith, Danville
DEAR RODNEY: The photo you sent is, unfortunately, far too dark and grainy to make an identification — it could be a skunk having a bad hair day — but I can see why you would think it’s a porcupine. The object in the photo is large and has what appears to be quills.
While it’s unlikely to find one in Danville, we do have porcupines in California. Their numbers have been declining for decades, and the ones we know of in the state mostly are at higher elevations — 6,000 to 8,000 feet — and in redwood forests.
Humans waged war against the porcupines in the early 1900s, when the creatures began to annoy the logging industry. Timber companies were planting young trees and porcupines thought someone had set up a buffet for them.
The porcupines didn’t do that much damage, but they were perceived as a pest and a problem. The companies and the state set out poison baits near their dens and shot others, greatly depleting their numbers.
Over the years, loss of habitat, poaching and urban encroachment have doomed many of the surviving “quill pigs.” From 2010 to 2012, a survey of porcupines in Sierra Nevada forests and Yosemite National Park counted 24, nine of which were killed on the highways, a risk because of the porcupine’s slow, lumbering gait.
Considering the female porcupine gives birth to just one kit a year, the math becomes obvious.
You should keep trying to capture a good picture and report the sighting to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which encourages residents to do so on its website.
You also can look for supporting evidence. Porcupines are herbivores, and in winter, they eat mostly twigs, bark and the cambium of conifers and hardwood trees. Finding shiny, white stems and limbs are good signs that a porcupine is around.
If it is a porcupine, that would be quite a discovery, and any steps possible should be taken by officials to make certain no harm comes to the creature.
Lindsay Wildlife Experience has a porcupine as one of its animal ambassadors. Experts at the center could also help with the identification.
Keep us posted.
