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Anyone have porcupine problems ?

Started by HemlockKing, May 06, 2021, 04:33:59 PM

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Corley5

  I wouldn't use poison for porkies.  Ever.  Do away with them and their shelter.  Burn the brush piles.  If they've got a place to live and a food source it's never ending.  They'll keep repopulating.  They are rodents.  
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

HemlockKing

I can't burn the piles because of the location and proximity to near by trees, I only had the means to pile this by hand, I wanted to use the land to my advantage, my land is very hilly and "ridgey" I simply threw all the brush into little "dips" or "ruts" in the land, no spot close by to pull it to burn it, it's diced up very finely and I even dissect most branches into 2/3 pieces, I suspect it will rot quicker than usual from rain runoff. I will be managing this area closely so I will certainly have time to take out more porkies
A1

Walnut Beast


HemlockKing

Quote from: Walnut Beast on May 08, 2021, 04:05:46 PM
Pick on somebody your size 😂
Not when they are eradicating my
Red oaks nonway
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barbender

I'm a bad logger/land manager, I let the poor things go about their business. However, it doesn't sound like we have them as thick as some of you. I'd probably feel differently about things if they were chewing on my house😬
Too many irons in the fire

mudfarmer

Quote from: Corley5 on May 08, 2021, 08:21:29 AM
Cut down their den trees.  If they don't have a place to live...
How do you cut down a boulder the size of a skidder? Ok how about a hundred of them?  ;D They like the little overhangs, and small caves in the cliffs are best here apparently.
Did manage to smash down the old 40s Plymouth body somebody rolled over the hill they were getting busy in for a few years at least.

thecfarm

We have what my Father called ledges about a mile up hill. When  he felt like it, he would go to the ledges and thin them out.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Corley5

  We don't have that kind of terrain.  I've never seen one living anywhere except cavity trees and hollow logs.  A thousand dollar vet bill to have them removed from two of your dogs leads to dead porkies.
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

HemlockKing

Finally got to check in on porky as I dumped him off belly side up about a mile out in the woods, he was gutted, whatever it was was super clean about it, thinking bobcat, they ate everything except the quills bones skin and intestines 
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Chuck White

~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

HemlockKing

Quote from: Chuck White on May 13, 2021, 07:56:27 AM
I'd sooner think FISHER!
I don't ever see fishers around but I hope there are some because we got WAY TOO MANY PORKIES  :)
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Greenie

We had serious porcupine damage - T-111 destroyed and beech trees girdled. Someone suggested placing salt water out - as much salt as can be dissolved in water. Trash can lids work well to hold the salt water. It worked like a miracle. Not sure what it did - upset their chemistry, cause them to drink too much water - whatever it did it got rid of them quickly.
There was no collateral damage, it was cheap and easy.

thecfarm

Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

farmfromkansas

Greenie, now tell me an easy way to get rid of badgers.
Most everything I enjoy doing turns out to be work

bitternut

I found that the easiest way to get rid of the porkies was to walk your woods in the late winter looking for tracks from a den tree to a nearby tree that they are feeding on. They usually den in hollow beech trees in my woods. Every night they come out and travel to a large maple to feed in the crown. Den trees are easy to spot as they will have a large accumulation of turds that look like super-sized rat turds. The same trees will be used year after year.

A well-placed 220 conibear or snare will take care of porkie. I had good results with both. Snares are much cheaper and lighter to carry and work almost as well as the conibears. Once you have learned where the winter dens are it doesn't take long to eradicate most of them in your area. I killed 12 (TWELVE) porkies for three years in a row in my 220 acres of woods. I have rarely seen any sign in the last couple of years.

Fishers have been re-introduced into our area and I have seen their tracks quite often. I also have seen sign that some animal had fed on discarded porkie carcasses. I always just discard the carcasses near the catch location. There is no problem with leaving your scent on the traps or dead ones laying nearby.

Absolutely do not cut down the den trees. They are your magnet for finding them every winter.

Clark

I think your best bet is to always have a firearm with you when you're on the property. Nothing more frustrating then finding a porcupine and not having a gun. When I was cruising timber I bought a handgun specifically for that and it accounted for 20-25 every winter. That was over quite the area; we don't have the population densities some of you are reporting further east.

One important thing about porkies, they tend to spend the winter in the same area year after year. It might be a particular den spot or food source but the come back to it every winter. If you find a lot of porky damage in the summer be sure to come back in the winter, odds are they'll be back.

Clark
SAF Certified Forester

HemlockKing

Clark at this point I will pull a c farm and stone one or beat it with a stick, I'm with em, those things ruin EVERYTHING, I'm sick of finding red oaks de barked and they also seem to like new growth white pine 
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tawilson

Quote from: Clark on May 17, 2021, 07:30:48 AM
I think your best bet is to always have a firearm with you when you’re on the property. Nothing more frustrating then finding a porcupine and not having a gun. When I was cruising timber I bought a handgun specifically for that and it accounted for 20-25 every winter. That was over quite the area; we don’t have the population densities some of you are reporting further east.

One important thing about porkies, they tend to spend the winter in the same area year after year. It might be a particular den spot or food source but the come back to it every winter. If you find a lot of porky damage in the summer be sure to come back in the winter, odds are they’ll be back.

Clark
Exactly.  I have a pocket 380 that I don't depend on for self defense but it has killed a lot of porcupines cause it's always with me.
Tom
2017 LT40HDG35 WIDE
BMS250 and BMT250 sharpener/setter
Woodmaster 725

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