| Friday, February 21, 2003 |
| Lovelorn porcupine relocated to town forest |
| Staff NEWTON -- A porcupine looking for love in all the wrong places was given a one-way ride to the town forest after this week's snowstorm. |
| Animal Control Officer Kimberly Mears said a Pond Street resident called for help after he stepped outside his front door to sweep snow from a front deck and stepped right onto the tail of a 20-pound porcupine. |
| "The porcupine cried and he cried,"; Mears said, adding the man was wearing shoes and heavy pants and only got three quills stuck in the leg of his pants. |
| She said the porcupine was not vicious but seemed to be very frightened and ran off. |
| Mears said this is mating season for porcupines and the little fellow was probably lost in the snow and had most likely stayed close to the house for warmth. |
| ";He was probably just out looking for love,"; Mears said. |
| Mears said the man told her he had seen the porcupine several times before in the back yard or sunning itself on his back deck, adding it had also spent several nights sleeping under the back deck. |
| He said he had been a little worried that his dog might get a little too close and get a nose full of quills for its curiosity. |
| Mears said when he called that evening to say the porcupine was back again, she set out to catch it armed with a loop pole. Assisted by police Officer Joseph Saluto, she was able to apprehend the amorous porcupine, put it in a cage and take him to the town conservation land about four miles away on Currierville Road, where he was released into the woods. |
| "He's probably very happy out there"; said Mears. |
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