High up

A porcupine high in a tree near the Sturgeon River in Sturgeon County.

Sharp end

Many dogs (and their owners through their vet bills) have found out to their detriment that a porcupine's quills can be very sharp. Sturgeon County.

Mooching around

A porcupine on a bank of the Sturgeon River at dusk. Sturgeon County.

Comfy nap

A porcupine basks in the spring sunshine while having a nap in a tree in Sturgeon County.

Winter is hard

I found this porcupine eating dried leaves, the sustenance it receives from this diet must be very meagre, winter is hard times for wildlife around here. Lois Hole Park.

On the trail

The porcupine appeared to be going in the opposite direction to me on a walking trail in Lois Hole Park, my decision on what to do (besides take a photo) was taken away by a guy on a fat tire bike who appeared and we scooted it in the direction we were both going. It eventually veered off onto a side trail and into the bush.

Back in the Birch

This porcupine seems to have found a good source of food for the winter judging by its return to the same tree over the last few weeks. Lois Hole Park.

On the ground

A porcupine in the tangled underbrush of Lois Hole Park.

Still here

This porcupine had spent a couple of days and very cold nights in this tree chewing away at the bark and sleeping. On the third day I visited it had left. Lois Hole Park.

Porcupine

Feeding on its winter diet of tree bark in the woods of Lois Hole Park.

Swimming the mighty Sturgeon

The sun was hot, the air was humid, the mosquitos beyond stupid, and a racoon decided to lead her kits over to where I was standing in full view on the opposite bank of the Sturgeon River. Worth the bites and the sweat! Sturgeon County.

Curiousity

After swimming the Sturgeon River Mom and two kits in turn took a quick look at me before disappearing into the long grass, this was the second kit. Sturgeon County.

Wet Racoon

This racoon has just swam across the Sturgeon River and checked me out before disappearing into the reeds and grasses taking her two kits with her. I think I was standing on her intended route judging by the little trail of crushed vegetation leading up from the water's edge to my position. Sturgeon County.

Leading the way

Mom leads her kits into the water to cross the Sturgeon River. Sturgeon County.

Spring fling

A porcupine dining on the fresh green growth of spring in the late evening. Sturgeon County.

Lost in the wilderness?

A rare sighting of a racoon in this part of Alberta. Having just swum across the Sturgeon River and scrambled up the pile of dead wood, it takes a look at me before disappearing into the bush. Sturgeon County.

Racoon

A rare sight in this part of Alberta, in fact the first I have seen in the wild, this racoon pauses briefly having just swum across the Sturgeon River in the gathering gloom just before sunset. Sturgeon County.

On safari

Perhaps not so exotic as the classic "leopard in a tree" but when stomping through the woods of Sturgeon County you take what you can get, so "Porcupine in a tree".

Porcupine feeding

A Porcupine carves the bark from an Aspen tree on a frigid day in the Grey Nuns Forest. St Albert

Porcupine

On a chilly (-20 C) afternoon in March a porcupine begins to strips bark from a branch of an Aspen in the Grey Nuns forest, St Albert