Where did all the porcupines go?
That’s the question Sierra Nevada conservationist are asking. The prickly animal's population has taken a dramatic decline in the last decade.
Turns out, the only way to see a porcupine is with a hidden camera.
"We have only seen 24 sightings in three years in the Central Sierra area," John Buckley, an environmentalist with central Sierra resource center, said. He is setting up hidden cameras throughout the Sierra trying to capture pictures of porcupines.
Buckley says between the 1930’s and 1970’s, the forest service and loggers were planting a lot of baby trees. It just so happens that baby trees taste good to the porcupine.
"They didn’t eat a lot of them, but they ate enough to be considered pests,” Buckley said.
The forest service and loggers no longer poison porcupines, but since then, there have not been a lot of porcupine sightings.
The low porcupine population is now affecting another woodland animal, the Pacific fisher. The furry animal is the porcupines only predator. Right now, there are fewer Pacific fisher sightings than porcupine in the central Sierra.
“Special protection could allow for captive breeding or protection on private land,” Buckley said.
Buckley is hoping his data collection could some day get the porcupine and his nemesis the Pacific fisher on a protection list. If you are in the Sierra and come across a porcupine take a picture. Then send it to Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center at http://www.cserc.org.