All the leaves are brown... and the wildlife too....

Fall brings happiness and sorrow to we year-round northwoodsers. More wildlife is on the move, so we get to see species we don't see all the time, for instance I saw a wolf cross the road last week and last night, during a horrible late fall/early winter sleet storm I saw a porcupine creeping across the highway. It was going really slowly, like it was saying "Shit! I should have brought an umbrella - I didn't expect this! This traffic can kiss my spiny ass if thinks I am going to move any faster!" Several people swerved out of its way and I saw in the rearview mirror that it made it. I guess attitude is everything, even in the wild kingdom.

Initially I thought that it might be hurt, so I felt bad, but then I googled the speed of porcupines and they apparently do move really slowly. I guess they don't have to run very fast from predators. Witness the result of a collegue's dog having a run-in with a porc (she was on her way to the ER when this photo was taken and recovered really nicely.)

I just looked it up: a baby porcupine is actually called a "porcupette". Oh how I love language.