porcupines

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cbobcat49
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Does anyone know of an effective way to repel porcupines? Specifically preventing them from chewing on wood. I wonder if there's a spray or something that can be used. Every year I backpack up to a lean-to at Allegany State park and spend the night... sometimes with people sometimes solo... I just got back and this is the second year in a row that I was kept up half the night by LOUD non-stop chewing/crunching/gnawing on the wood only a few feet away from me!
Just thinking of next year if there's something I could bring.

Chris
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Matt
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yes, porcupine repellant. or fox urine (found at some hunting supply stores). You could also try peeing on the wood yourself.
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cbobcat49
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You could also try peeing on the wood yourself.
Tried that. Apparently it didn't work. :)

I heard lots of other wildlife that night though. At about 8:45 a pack of coyotes started yelping. It almost sounded like little kids laughing... which is what I thought it was at first until I realized. Later on I heard 2 owls calling to each other for about 5 minutes. That was really fun to listen to. I heard a "peep peep peep" for awhile which I thought may have been a bat.
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cbobcat49
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oh and thanks for the link... I may get some of that stuff.
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As we hiked to the fire tower we saw a lot of trees with the bark chewed off. These trees were skinny and the height was 7 feet and up. We wondered who the culprit was, we knew porcupines lived of tree bark but the trees were too small to support their weight. The damage seemed to follow two distinct elevation ranges. As the following pictures revile we were wrong.

This was on the lower elevation and the fattest tree we saw.
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It's hard to see the tree he's in but it is small.
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Here he is
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Awesome capture Jim! Adorable! We don't see them around here very often.
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great shots Jim. That reminds me: I have to write a guide to these weird little rodents.
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Thanks Brenda and Matt,
I have seen the damage these rodents can do at Lean-to's in the Dacks. Thus I know where Chris is comming from. Peeing on the tree is not good pratice because these rodents will naw at the tree to get the salt that's left behind, along with other rodents and sometimes deer, thus killing the tree.

:idea: Some backwoods info pee on a rock!! :idea:
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