Pesky Porcupines

TreeFan

Active Member
Porcupines are eating the bark off many of the pines I have planted and are eating the bark on pear and oak. In the fall, they chew off the branches on oak and pear to the point of defoliation. Pines have perished because they ring the tree.
I shoot em if I see em, but that is not often..
I am trying milorganite to see if I can make them taste bad..
Any tips on porcupine damage prevention??
 
Bears and now porcupines, you guys are making me REALLY glad I live in SE Kansas! I’m a little worried about the murder hornet coming and killing all our trees, but maybe we’ll have a few good years left.
 
Here in PA we shoot them on sight, which is legal. That seems to control them very well, since they move slowly and live in treetops where they are easily spotted. It's like shooting at a low flying kite. And when you see one and you don't have a gun you have time to go get one and they will still be there when you get back. They are very destructive, and they are known to totally wreck young fruit trees. I keep an old beatup shotgun handy for predator control.
8b1182f1e143801090113e234829c810.jpg

e5761d39f8f7cd9696d0b3e8fedba908.jpg
 
Last edited:
When I lived out west, they were pretty much shot on sight. On our place today, I’m content to let them be. They take out trees in the winter, but have become plot regulars in the clover/brassicas. I really enjoy seeing Fishers...which prey heavily on the porcupine. Might I feel different if they were destroying treasured fruit trees? Of course. Fortunately, I’m not in that position today.
 
Trees aren't the only thing they destroy.
They love to chew rubber, plastic, etc.
I've seen signs at trail heads out west warning backpackers about porcupine damage done to vehicles that are left unattended for long periods of time. I remember seeing vehicles with temporary fence set around them to keep them out.
A guy told me they had one chew it's way thru the floor and got into his camp and proceeded to eat the linoleum floor!
Kill them.
 
Trees aren't the only thing they destroy.
They love to chew rubber, plastic, etc.
I've seen signs at trail heads out west warning backpackers about porcupine damage done to vehicles that are left unattended for long periods of time. I remember seeing vehicles with temporary fence set around them to keep them out.
A guy told me they had one chew it's way thru the floor and got into his camp and proceeded to eat the linoleum floor!
Kill them.
That's nuts!
 
We used to have a few on a deer lease I had in Central Texas, but we don’t have them here. Too many coyotes I guess. The rancher wanted them killed so I obliged. Funny thing, I had a good pointer bird dog that was as consistent as any I’ve ever seen on quail, and he would point those porkys and not break point. They must have smelled like quail because he paid zero attention to deer, jack rabbits, or other birds. I even saw a gray fox run about 20 feet in front of him once and he just glanced at it and kept hunting. I remember three porkys that he pointed up under some kind of bush that grows like an umbrella and I had to leash him and kill them before he would break point. Strange !
 
Update - One pesky porcupine dispatched with an old beater .22. After a couple years of damage, it had to go and once I put out the word to my crew, it was done in short time. My thanks for the inspiration and solution. My trees will be much happier now.. :)
 
Back
Top