Dave Hallock, Eldora.  When most animals try to avoid a potentially hazardous situation like a predator, they may either run away or just stand still, hoping that their coloration pattern will allow them to blend in with their surroundings. A few have developed some specialized defense equipment that allows them to be somewhat conspicuous as well as just stand there. Porcupines and skunks are two that come to mind. They are two animals that you and your pet should stay away from.

North American porcupines are the second largest rodent, following only beavers. Their total length can be between 2 and 3 feet, with short legs and a short but thick tail that is used for perching and climbing. They favor forested, mountainous areas with conifer trees, but can also be found on the plains. They eat parts of woody plants, especially during the winter, including the under-bark (cambium) of trees; the appearance of trees girdled to partially stripped of their bark with very small chew marks is a sign they may be present. They are active year-round and can be seen any time of the day, but favor night. They are generally solitary, with poor vision but good senses of smell and hearing. They breed in fall and early winter with generally a single young being born in the spring. In the wild they generally live about a six years.

Porcupines are best known for their primary defense mechanism: the barbed quills on their back and tail. When threatened, they will go into a hunched posture, generally circling and keeping the barbed quills of the rear and tail toward the threat. The barbed quills are not actually thrown but are loosely attached, readily shedding and imbedding with contact to the right surface, like an attacking animal’s face. Getting quilled is very painful. A porcupine’s predators include coyotes, bobcat, mountain lions and black bears. Smart predators have learned that porcupines have no quills on their underbelly.

There is some concern that porcupines are becoming scarce in western Boulder County. They are considered a County Species of Special Concern as their abundance appears to have declined and numbers are low. Long-time veterinarians feel that they see fewer dogs with quills than they once did.

Dr. Mike Clements, at Peak-to-Peak Animal Hospital in Nederland, felt that 30 years ago he would have to treat a dog with quills almost daily; this year he has had none.

When I think of skunks I am reminded of the punch line from an old Cheech and Chong story, “walk softly and carry a big stink.” We have two types of skunks that could be seen up here. The striped skunk is large (2 to 2.5 feet in total length) with a long bushy black-and-white tail. The longish body hairs are black with a single white dorsal stripe from nose to neck and two white lateral body stripes. They can be found throughout Colorado in areas of elevation up to 10,000 feet. The western spotted skunk is small, with a total length between 13 and 19 inches. They are black to brown with a series of broad white stripes that are broken into spots. They are generally found below 8,000 feet elevation in the canyon country of western and southern Colorado, extending north along the foothills of the Front Range.

Up until last week I had never seen one in the Eldora area, and it was the little western spotted skunk. Not much larger than a squirrel, but the striking black-and-white markings and distinctive odor were convincing.

Stories of skunks seem to be uncommon for this area. The book Mammals of Colorado (by Armstrong, Fitzgerald, and Meaney 2011) cites the observation of an all-black spotted skunk in Boulder Canyon below Nederland. Skunks are nocturnal, which contributes to few sightings.

Carron Meaney relayed a story about a friend that slept outside just in a sleeping bag near Sugarloaf and woke up with a spotted skunk sleeping on his chest. Didn’t find out how the story ended.

Skunks tend to feed on insects, small mammals, and birds. They will mate in September to October, with young being born in May or early June. They generally den on the ground or in rock crevices, burrows, tree cavities and under human habitations. They will use old woodrat nests for shelter. I won’t go into the details of how they produce and discharge their “irritating, odoriferous musk” that can be streamed from their posterior “up to several meters” (more from Mammals of Colorado, where much of the technical information for this article has been gleaned). Just don’t stand behind them and make sure your dog avoids them as well.

Following are some of the November nature happenings in the Nederland area. Elk will wind down their mating activities. The timing of their movement to lower elevation varies with each herd. Some have already made the trek, while others will let the increasing snow depth push them down. Black bears continue to find winter dens for hibernation, with the second and third weeks of November being the peak time for males. Moose will also wind down their breeding activities. Mule deer breed in November and December. Most have moved down to the foothills. The last ground squirrels and chipmunks will go into hibernation, though still may pop out from time to time during mild weather. Mice and pack rats continue their migration into our cabins.

(Originally published in the November 15, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)