It’s been snowing again and I’m worried about Harry, the odd porcupine. Here you see him plowing crusty snow with great difficulty yesterday; he’s apparently looking for greens and their roots.
In the winter, porcupines are known for their adoption of a woody diet of bark and branches, especially eastern hemlock branches. Harry apparently isn’t following that regime and appears to be losing more weight than most porkies do in winter. (They all lose some most winters, according to the literature.)
It’s hard to make a case that porcupines are more needed than harmful in our ecosystem nowadays. We’re losing hemlocks and other trees to invasive insects as well as to porcupines now. Nonetheless, Harry sure can make you smile, and that must be worth something.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on February 10, 2026.)