Submitter's name:	Wayne Culberson
Title:	Porcupine
Gear Used:	Olympus C5050
Diaphragm:	f4
Shutter speed:	1/320
Media:	XD card
Technical information:	Nothing special, just zoomed in to try to get as close as possible, as the porcupine was up the tree a bit higher than I could reach. He had climbed a small tamarack tree, so I sort of had him trapped. He couldn't really go much higher, as the tree trunk was getting too small. He kept hiding his head behind the trunk, refusing to look at me, no matter how much I circled around the tree. So I swayed the tree back and forth in about a three-foot arc at his level, forcing him to hang on tighter and move his head around to look at me. When the tree stopped, I had to quickly grab a picture before he hid his head again. After a few tries I did manage to get 3 or 4 shots like this one.
Subject information:	It is a porcupine. There is not much you can say about one. Just stay back a few feet for your own safety, and if you are swinging one in a small tree, be careful he doesn't fall out and land on you.
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Comments:

Comment left by: Olaf Greve (no e-mail specified)

Nice one! I like the playful composition with the tree. That, and the colours, make this a very pleasing image to me.

Comment left by: Chris (no e-mail specified)

Well done for getting that shot. I have never seen a porcupine's photo that big.

Comment left by: Wiliam (wiliam@orange.nl)

Never knew prcopines would climb trees. He looks a bit disoriented by the swaying ;-))

Comment left by: andrew fildes (afildes@people.net.au)

Excellent critter. Looks almost cuddly. What do those taste like then?

Comment left by: Graeme Pow (no e-mail specified)

[Strewth! Is there nothing that Aussies won't try to eat?! :-)] What a cracking picture of a porcupine. I like the rich earthy brown tones in this shot and the contrasting green shoots. I especially like the glint in his (or her?) eye; I get the feeling you've not seen the last of him!

Comment left by: wayne (no e-mail specified)

I have heard of people eating them, though I haven't been hungry enough to try one myself. They are about the only animal in the woods here that you can catch and kill with just a stick, so it's said they are your best bet for a meal if lost in the woods. Years ago on the farm they did a lot of damage to our grain and corn crops, so we'd bang them on the top of the nose with a stick to dispatch them whenever we saw one. One quick blow does the job. Also, it prevented having to pull a mess of quills from the dog's nose and mouth, a nasty job indeed. Now, I rather enjoy just seeing them, and let them go without harm.

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