mjflores
Banned
Registered: Jan 2006
Location: Everywhere
Posts: 2708 |
I dont care what anyone says, a fisher would have to be almost starving to death to eat a porcupine. I dont doubt they CAN, and even HAVE eaten them...I just dont think they're on the top of the list. Maybe during the winter, when there are no squirrels or birds...or anything else to eat..maybe! I've trapped allot of fisher, and have never seen one with a quill in it. In my area, we have a ton of Hemlock and beech trees. We have a ton of porcupine, and quite a few fisher and they all seem to get along just fine.
As for breaking, I'm no expert but it's not all that hard. Really, it's no harder than any other form of trash. It's easier than breaking from coyote actually since it's so easy to make a "controlled" environment in my experience. I have an active porcupine den about 200 yards from my house, and it's been a porky haven for 6 or 7 years as I recall. I start things by taking puppy walks right by that tree, and when they run over to the hole I yell "git!"..."leave that alone!!". That's all, just setting the stage for later. Later on, you just wait for the inevitable quilling to occur. I wait until they're on the leash, then I yell at em, snap the leash hard..all the way to the truck. Let them know you're not at all happy with what they have sticking out of their face. DONT beat them! If you beat on them you'll have a porcupine dog that wont come to you once it's been quilled. It'll tree them and leave when they see you coming. That's even harder to fix lol!
Dont take the dog to the vet to have quills removed unless it's a medical emergency. Best case is you'll spend a ton of money, and your dog will wake up from it's nap with a sore mouth..learning little from the experience. Worst case, they get petted and rewarded by the vet and assistant because they feel bad for "poor ole spot". When it's over, they even get a few treats to eat while waiting for you to arrive back and pick them up! Not a bad deal really, a sore nose in trade for a nice medicated nap, a belly rub, and few tastey milk bones. Pull them yourself! And make sure the dog knows you're not happy with them while doing it. Every once in a while, take a nice thick quill and jab them in the nose...they need to learn that no fun comes from getting quilled. I actually feed my dogs after hunting, but if one gets quilled..they go through the pulling routine, get half an aspirin, and get put in the kennel with an empty belly.
Now if they still get after porcupine, you need to find yourself one. Get a road killed one, or find one in a green field or cut over. If it's alive, a few wacks in the face with your leash and it'll be dead. Now let your dog go and when he gets over to it you shock him good. Dont say anything, let the shocker do the talking. A few nice juices and leash the hound...walk him over to the porcupine and shock him again. Walk away and bring him back. At this point they should put on the brakes and you'll have to drag the dog over to the porky. Do it one more time and shock him. Now put the dog up for a few days to think about it, and then try hunting it. You may have to repeat it but stay right on top of it. When they tree dont pet him at all until you've checked the tree. If there's a porcupine up there you shock him and yell "get going". Sooner or later they'll stop messing with them. Depends on how smart or dumb they are. This has worked for me, and havent found it to be to hard to deal with.
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10-17-2008 04:48 PM
