The Rambler

 

I'm guessing you weren't expecting to see a picture of a Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)!

This photo was not taken near Bodega Head, but was kindly shared with us by JoAnn Mohr who was lucky enough to see this Porcupine near Crescent City on 24 November 2014.

The last time I saw a Porcupine was in Otis, Oregon, in 2002...slowly rambling across a field.  I haven't seen one in California yet, so I had to do some research about their status here.

It sounds like they're around, but that perhaps populations are patchy, and more common in forested areas east of Interstate 5.  In 2012, the Sacramento Bee published an article in which they discussed possible declines in Porcupine populations statewide, perhaps since the 1970s.  The declines have been attributed to changes in habitat, poisoning (rodenticides), and a very low reproductive potential (see below).

I've never lived in a place where Porcupines were common, so I learned a lot about them even with some quick perusing of facts.  Here are a few tidbits:

- "Porcupine" comes from "porcus" for "pig" and "spina" for spine, so it basically means "spiny pig" (from Wikipedia)

- Porcupines are the second largest rodent in North America

- An individual Porcupine has about 30,000 quills!

- I mentioned that Porcupines have low reproductive potential.  They mate in the fall (October/November).  They have a long gestation period = about 210 days (7 months).  Females generally give birth to only 1 offspring (in April/May).  The young Porcupine is nursed for ~127 days (4 months), and then becomes independent at about 5 months.  They don't become sexually mature until they're about 2 years (females) or 2.5 years (males) old.

If you're interested in learning more about Porcupines, I found this page from the Animal Diversity Web to be very well done. 

And here's one more fun fact.  I wondered whether Porcupines were in Sonoma County...and how close they came to Bodega Head.  After a little searching on the Internet, I found a video that Gordon posted of a Porcupine sighting at the Austin Creek State Recreation Area.  You can see that video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk2RNzo3htE

Nicely done, Gordon!

If you've observed Porcupines locally, I'd be interested in hearing more about it.

Packrat?

So I've been trying to identify a rat.  I don't have much experience identifying rats, but perhaps you can help.

I was driving home from Sebastopol along Occidental Road and noticed a small mammal (dead) in the middle of the road.  I wasn't that interested in leaving it there to be run over by cars, and I was also curious about what type of mammal it was.  So I pulled over and walked back to move it off to the side of the road.

Before departing, I took a few quick photos for the record.

When I realized it was some type of rat, I looked up the main differences between a Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) and another species that I know occurs in this area, Dusky-footed Woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes).

Some differences between them include the following: (1) Norway Rats are grayer underneath, while woodrats are paler; (2) Norway Rats have tails shorter than their body lengths, while woodrats have tails longer than their bodies; (3) Norway Rats have "naked" tails with obvious scales, while woodrats have furry tails.

Here's a series of pictures of the small mammal I found on the road.  I should warn you — although this rat is in good condition, if you don't want to see images of a road-killed mammal, look no further.

 

 

 

 

 

This rat's body was about 7 inches long and its tail was about 9 inches long.  It was pale underneath.  Its tail was furry.  These characteristics made me lean towards this being a Dusky-footed Woodrat.  However, I was bothered that the hairs on top of the hindfeet didn't appear that "dusky."  Does this character vary?  Or am I wrong about this identification?  Let me know what you think.

P.S. Dusky-footed Woodrats are also known as "packrats."  They build intriguing houses and are famous for collecting all sorts of trinkets.   The National Wildlife Federation has a basic fact sheet about them here.