Page:Babyhood of Wild Beasts.djvu/269

Rh of the Canadian Porcupine is eaten by Indians and trappers. The quills are used to ornament their clothing after first being dyed bright colours.

The average weight of a full-grown porcupine is about twenty pounds. Some of them attain a weight of thirty or thirty-five pounds. The Porcupine is twice as large as the woodchuck.

In Alaska and North-western Canada the Porcupine is not shot. He is the only wild animal that can be killed with a club and is left unmolested for the purpose of sustaining the starving man who is unlucky enough to have lost his gun or run out of ammunition.

Don't kill the Porcupine for pastime. He does mankind no harm, nor does he destroy property. He has his place in the Divine Scheme of Life and we have no business to destroy his earthly existence.