Porcupine Paparazzi / Ladies Lunching

"On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." 
One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eyes. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince.

It was a lovely day, a reasonable temperature out, with a mix of sun and clouds. We decided to go hiking, so afternoon found us in Moshannon State Forest, walking down a gravel road to a trail in the forest that led to a small creek. There we set up shop for the afternoon, read our books, and enjoyed the silence and beauty of nature.

I took plenty of photos of the water, as I'm sure you would have imagined. And at some point, I'll put some of those on Instagram and put a link here. There is nothing so delightful as a little burbling creek in the wilderness. It was just the right size - you could jump across it in most spots - and the water was clean and clear.

The woods were amazingly green and wet, and covered in ferns. I spotted one trillium and just one lady's slipper orchid. You can see those on the general Instagram set. The mountain laurel is just tiny, tight buds right now; they should be opening soon.

Late in the afternoon, we walked up and out of the hollow and headed for our car. We put our chairs and daysacks in, and as my husband was starting the car, I spotted an animal about 50 feet away, along the road. Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum), from an original French word for "thorn pig." It quickly walked up a bank and disappeared into the woods.

Of course, you know me. I hopped out of the car, with only my camera, and took off after the porcupine! It did its best to get away from me, but porcupines are rather slow and do not see very well. It made a little noise as it turned and gave me the full face shots. 

I don't think it was too happy to have me on its tail, and really, it was rude of me, I know, but I wanted the photos! (Yes, call me a porcupine paparazzi if you must.) If it had shown up even a minute or two later, we'd have missed it, so it was almost a final cameo in our day in the wilds.

Porcupines are generally very shy and reclusive animals. They do not seek people out, or attack them. They do not bite, as far as I can tell, and will try to get as far away from you, as fast as they can, often by climbing trees.

It is also a myth that they can shoot their quills at you. You cannot be harmed by a porcupine unless YOU touch IT, which I advise you not to do. If you have been quilled, or your animal was quilled, it was because YOU touched the porcupine. So please: U Can't Touch This!!! Link: 10 photos of the porcupine on Instagram.

I'm also including a shot in the extras of two of our female ruby-throated hummingbirds. They had just been fighting and chasing each other, and then suddenly, they were sitting together on the feeder enjoying a fine Memorial Day lunch, against a backdrop of gorgeous pink rhododendron blooms.

I have two photos so here are two soundtrack songs. First, for my porcupine, I've got M.C. Hammer, with U Can't Touch This. Second, for my two female hummingbirds, I've got Stevie Nicks (whose 77th birthday is today), with I Sing for the Things. Yes, I celebrate the things that money can't buy!