Influx of porcupines has Hope for Wildlife scrambling for space

An influx of porcupineshas left Hope for Wildlife needing more space for the prickly animals.

Hope Swinimer, the founder of the non-profit wildlife rescue in Seaforth, N.S., said Sunday they had between 30 and 40 porcupines for the whole winter season last year. But they've brought in 23 porcupines in December alone this year.

Swinimer isn't sure why, but mange is a part of it.

She and her team of staff and volunteers are converting a small barn into a recovery unit for porcupines on the mend from mange, a type of skin disease caused by parasitic mites.

Mange causes the porcupines to lose the furand quills on their stomachsand sometimes their backs,Swinimer said. That leaves them vulnerable to frostbiteand is particularly deadly in Canadian winters.

"They have no protection at all," she said.

Some porcupines are still in early stages of treatment, but some have been treated and have mange out of their system, said Tessa Jackson, who works on the Hope for Wildlife medical team.

"We do have some that are totally fine, just regrowing their fur in a larger unit," Jackson said. "They're waiting to be moved out to the new unit that we're building for them."

The plan is to make the barn airtightand fill it with hay and heat lamps. When porcupines have finished their treatment, but are still growing back their fur, they'll have a place to roam without exposing them to winter conditions.

The new space will also be filled with bits of pine trees, which will act as a barrier to the wind and also mimic natural habitat. Porcupines like to snack on them too, Swinimer said.

Many of the porcupines brought to Hope for Wildlife also suffer from some type of upper respiratory illness. Swinimer said it's unclear whether mange or the respiratory illness comes first, but they're conducting tests to find out.

The good news is mange is easier to treat now than it was 20 years ago.

"People are still under the misconception that, 'Oh, you should shoot this animal, it has mange'. Well, it's very easy to help it, and fix itand get it back to a healthy state," Swinimer said.

Once the porcupines are treated, and their fur and quills have grown back, they'll be put into a larger outdoor unit and eventuallyreleased back into the wild, Swinimer said, which is the ultimate goal.

MORE TOP STORIES