2102_0367 Porcupine
Back to the wild. One afternoon, I spotted a Porcupine waddling across the upland prairie. Usually I see them in thickets; this one was in the open - and my dormant brain screamed "Photo op!" I drove past it, got out, and then walked a big circle to get the weak sun behind me. If the Porcupine was aware of me, it seemed to forget after finding some delicious roots to eat, and I slowly worked my way closer so that it was pushing through the grasses toward me. I noticed how much, despite its dark face, it looked like a bunch of grass. Sure enough, it emerged into the open, more or less. I managed four head shots, and about 200 butt shots as it turned around to show me its tail and rump armed with thousands of quills (a Porcupine has about 30,000 quills on its body).
It was a good re-entry after two weeks of suspended animation during the Polar Vortex. I had been sleeping too much, eating too much. During previous winters I didn't let minus 30 weather deter me, but those days may be gone. Strange to get such cold temperatures during a winter with almost no snow: it felt like winter, but didn't look like winter.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
2102_0367 Porcupine
Back to the wild. One afternoon, I spotted a Porcupine waddling across the upland prairie. Usually I see them in thickets; this one was in the open - and my dormant brain screamed "Photo op!" I drove past it, got out, and then walked a big circle to get the weak sun behind me. If the Porcupine was aware of me, it seemed to forget after finding some delicious roots to eat, and I slowly worked my way closer so that it was pushing through the grasses toward me. I noticed how much, despite its dark face, it looked like a bunch of grass. Sure enough, it emerged into the open, more or less. I managed four head shots, and about 200 butt shots as it turned around to show me its tail and rump armed with thousands of quills (a Porcupine has about 30,000 quills on its body).
It was a good re-entry after two weeks of suspended animation during the Polar Vortex. I had been sleeping too much, eating too much. During previous winters I didn't let minus 30 weather deter me, but those days may be gone. Strange to get such cold temperatures during a winter with almost no snow: it felt like winter, but didn't look like winter.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.