Quote:
Originally Posted by Dewey Cox
Between the trees they kill and the animals they injure porcupines are "shoot on sight" around here.
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Highlighted trees as well. I raise hardy fruit trees as another hobby. One long winter a single porcupine "girdled" half a dozen fruit trees a wounded a handful of others. Girdle is where the porcupine strips the bark off right around the entire diameter of a tree. Sometimes a lot more... And that destroys the circulatory system and thus kills the tree. If anyone who has started a tree from a sapling only to have it 5-7 years later killed in one single outing of a porcupine...
Yep, easy to bring the gun out at that point.
For those who are interested though,
Instead I've practiced adding a wire fence around each tree that are typically targeted. This is stronger wire rolls, 4 feet tall, that you would use for something like stucco. Strong enough to stand in a complete circle around a tree, easy enough to move and put back when needed and small enough space between the wire to keep out the biggest culprits. Afterall there are deers as well that will not kill a tree but happy to take the blossums off all your fruit trees and give it a real unneeded pruning. I.e. you can't shoot them all so came up with something better.