LIFE occasionally throws us a little challenge, just to test our mettle, perhaps. The other day I received a telephone call asking for help in removing an unwanted porcupine from a village garden – this was in my capacity as chairman of the Trafalgar Conservation Group, I hasten to add. I summoned the troops and we sallied forth to do battle with said porcupine.
Four of us were soon at the scene of the battle, to join two residents who were already fully engaged. Actually, most of the work was done by two doughty men, while the rest of us sort of chipped in with sage advice, obviously being experts in the matter of porcupine capture and removal.
It seems that porcie had gained access to the well-fenced garden through a hole in the wooden gate conveniently chewed open by the resident dog. Once inside, he had made free with their magnificent pumpkin patch, chewing happily on everything from the flowers to an almost fully-grown pumpkin.
Rather like Cinderella, the bewitching hour (in this case dawn, I suppose) caught him out in the open when the dog was let out. Chaos ensued, the dog ended up in retreat and porcie firmly ensconced in a pile of scrap timber in the yard.
That’s when we entered the fray.
It took an hour’s effort: moving wood and other no-longer-useful items, chivvying, chasing (he occasionally made a break for it), begging, pleading and cajoling to finally get porcie from under the wood and into a corner.
You knew of course that porcupines can shoot their quills, but did you know that they also hiss, spit, grunt and generally behave in a most disagreeable manner.
Anyway, porcie was eventually coaxed into a corner, in which had been conveniently placed a 20-litre plastic bucket. He made a tactical error and headed into the bucket – a pre-arranged wooden trap fell, an awaiting blanket was deployed, and porcie was ‘catched’, to rousing cheers from the assembled throng.
He was then carted, bucket and all, out of the garden and down towards Trafalgar Valley, our conservation area in the middle of the village, and he was last seen high-tailing it, hissing and complaining, into the bush. Who said things could get boring around here?
Now for some very different news, Britain’s Sir David Attenborough and a group of British broadcasters, conservationists and Members of Parliament, along with Dr Richard Leakey of Kenya, have sent an open letter to President Xi Jinping of China asking him to stop the ivory trade in his country in an effort to save Africa and Asia’s elephants from total destruction.
China is the biggest market for ivory and the letter coincides with a visit to that country by Prince William, who will also be broaching the ivory issue with Chinese leaders. The letter, and Prince William, are stressing the need for a mass education and awareness drive in China, hopefully with the President’s backing.* Well, one can but hope for the best. Cheers!
*Savetheelephants.org News Service.
