During the winter months “Porky” feeds upon the bark of various trees, with an apparent preference for the conifers and coniferous foliage. At times a single tree may furnish food for several days. The porcupine is not a traveler, and rarely moves far, since food is ordinarily readily available. In summer bark is eaten at times, but the diet is predominantly the leaves and new twigs of shrubs, grasses, and succulent plants.
The inordinate liking for salt exhibited by the porcupine is well known. Tool handles which bear a trace of dried perspiration are eagerly devoured; it is common to find table-tops and other articles of furniture in abandoned camps almost destroyed if they retain any evidence of bacon, salt pork, or other salty foods. This habit has created a hearty dislike among campers and woodsmen for the “quill-pigs,” and they are notorious as camp nuisances.
Because of its nocturnal habits, the porcupine is not often seen. It prefers to remain concealed in the uppermost branches of a thick-foliaged tree, or perhaps in a hollow stump or log during the day, venturing out at dusk to forage.
Natural enemies of this animal include many of the predators, although the protection afforded by the quills is sufficient to discourage attack in most instances. Perhaps extremities of hunger result in desperate attempts upon occasion, but it is difficult to imagine any flesh-eater coming out better than second-best in an encounter, with one exception. Observations and records of naturalists, trappers, and other competent observers throughout the north woods country indicate that the fisher is an implacable and deadly enemy of the porcupine, which is the fisher’s favorite prey and which it kills by tearing open the unprotected belly. Observers have found trapped fishers to contain porcupine quills in the intestines and in other parts of the body, with no apparent harmful effects. Since the fisher has been almost exterminated over most of its range within the United States, however, it cannot be regarded as an effective check upon the increase in the porcupine population. In rare instances, coyotes and cougars have been recorded as preying upon the porcupine, and forest fires have been important in reducing their numbers in the past.
THE VARYING HARES
Two kinds of varying hares, or snowshoe rabbits, are known to occur within the park. A brief discussion of each follows:
The Washington varying hare, Lepus americanus washingtonii Baird, is a medium-sized hare, larger than the common cottontail rabbit. Mammalogists differ in their discussions of the coloration of this species. The variations of opinion are of interest. H. E. Anthony, in his Field Book of North American Mammals, thus describes the Washington Varying Hare:
“Summer and winter pelages both dull, dark reddish brown (no white winter pelage); tops of feet more intense reddish; soles of hind feet sooty.”
Taylor and Shaw, in Mammals and Birds of Mount Rainier National Park, are in general agreement with Anthony’s description of summer pelage, but describe the winter coat as follows:
“In winter in the lowlands the pelage merely puts on a slightly paler or more vinaceous cinnamon tinge; but in Mount Rainier National Park a white coat is assumed.”