Porcupine

I called my sister this morning, and caught her while she was on her daily walk around their Texas ranch.  It was a good test to see if she lost signal while in the low spots (she didn't) and we ended up talking over an hour.  While we were chatting she came across a young porcupine.  Trudy (her dog who has had run-ins with porcupines before but has apparently finally learned her lesson!) did not bother it, but the little critter was obviously frightened, and kept turning so its back (and quills!) were pointed at the danger.  Here's a cute clip of a porcupine a friend posted on FB today: http://cuteoverload.com/2011/12/08/oh-its-this-guy-again/

We got to see a baby porcupine at the hot springs one summer many years ago.  We were on a narrow trail outside Neil & Terry's house and spotted it up in the tree.  At first we mistook it for a kitten (it looked pretty soft and cuddly) but after closer inspection realized what it was.  We wondered where mama was, but a minute or so later she climbed down from a tree on the other side of the trail and ambled off (to draw us away from her little one?)  We had no intention of harming (or even disturbing) it, but of course mama had no way of knowing that.  The little one sure did look soft and cuddly, though, and I would have liked to have checked it out - but we didn't want to upset mama so we continued on our way.  Alex was just a 'baby in the backpack', but Lisa was almost 3 so she may remember that day.

See how soft and cuddly this one looks?