Porcupine
Animals of the Canadian Badlands
Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills,
that defend or camouflages them from predators. Porcupines are the
third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara (South America)
and the beaver. It eats leaves, herbs, twigs and green plants like
skunk cabbage and clover and in the winter it may eat bark. It
often climbs trees to find food. It is mostly nocturnal, but will
sometimes forage for food in the day. Quills are released by
contact with them, or they may drop out when the porcupine shakes
its body, but cannot be projected at attackers. New quills grow to
replace lost ones.
A porcupine at the cache location.
This cache is part of the Legacy Trail produced by the Canadian
Badlands Geocaching Association for the Best of the Bad Mega
Event.
The Legacy Trail
The Legacy Trail is a collection of geocaches that circles its
way over 100 miles on country roads traversing some of the most
scenic and spectacular landscape in this part of the Canadian
Badlands. A large number of caches in a variety of types, sizes and
difficulty are placed on the Trail. Every town, village and hamlet
in the Canadian Badlands has its own cache. Some caches were named
after local historic events and people, as well as celebrities who
grew up in this area. Some caches were sponsored by geocachers who
attended the Best of the Bad Mega Event. The Legacy Trail was
produced by the Canadian Badlands Geocaching Association for the
Best of the Bad Mega Event.
The Canadian Badlands
The Canadian Badlands in Alberta are like no other place on
earth, home to the world's most extensive dinosaur bonebeds,
badlands and hoodoos, and a world-class museum that shelters a 75
million-year-old legacy. The region is rich in culturally and
historically significant sites that tell the story of the First
Nations people and early settlers, and of a complex and diverse
modern society that is still deeply rooted in the spirit of the
frontier.
