Porcupine welcomed us home

Porcupine, a slow-moving Boreal Forest creature, armed with quills

Porky gnawed the same tree years ago

We were down South visiting relatives for a few weeks and when we got back home last night and let Cork out of the car he found a porcupine right under the front steps. Talk about a surprise!
To my relief Cork obeyed my command to "leave it," and came into the house unscathed.
Then we went for a walk around the "back 40" this morning and Cork found the porky again, this time near the woodshed. Again he left it alone after an initial ferocious barking.
It was about 30 yards from where it was last night. That is a typical day's travel for these unique creatures. They are the Boreal Forest's version of a sloth.
At the back of the property we found where the big rodent, or one of his brethren, gnawed away the bark at the base of a white birch. The same tree had been chewed by another porky years ago.
Porcupines are indigenous to this area but are not plentiful.