BC Parks, Porcupines, and Chicken Wire

[profdant139]

On some of the pages for the parks in BC, the authors say that porcupines are a problem and that one should put chicken wire around the vehicle so that the animals do not chew on the rubber hoses and the wiring. It sounds like a hoax, but apparently it is not.

Is this a widespread problem? Does it happen in Alaska and the Yukon, or only in BC? (That would be odd, but maybe there are no porkies at high latitudes.) I have also heard that there is chicken wire available at some trailheads but not at others -- so do folks bring their own? How to best deploy it and then store it and transport it? Chicken wire is notoriously balky. Would plastic mesh work? Much easier to roll up.

Advice from experienced travelers is greatly appreciated!!

[Francesca_Knowl]

:B

I am so laughin' at myself right now- I thought your pic, Sue, was of some kind of weird 21st century version of the medieval weapon called the "mace", and you'd whacked the poor lil' porker with it! Had to look up the "Manfrotto Monopod" thing before I got the idea that what I'm lookin' at is the rubber tip of your photog-pod embedded with porker quills.

Way to repurpose the tool, Sistah!

[fanrgs]

One of your best photos yet, Sue!

[sue_t]

My Manfrotto monopod was effective at convincing one to move along. Not quite a 10' pole, but close!

[profdant139]

Actually, Paoli, it's a "two-fer:" by putting up chicken wire to screen out the porkies, you also screen out the Arctic Mosquitoes, whose wings are too wide to fit through the holes. Heck, I hear that the no see ums are so big that you can actually see um.

[Paoli]

Porcupines? I would be more concerned about Alaskan mosquitoes flying away with the family dog.

[SideHillSoup]

Powder pig wrote:
Yes, porcupines can totally disable your vehicle by chewing on tires, brake lines, radiator hoses, or wiring. They seem to go for rubber or areas with winter road salt left on them.

They seem to be more of a problem in the wetter West Kootenays like Valhalla and Kokanee parks but are also a problem in St. Mary alpine park and Bugaboo park.

Some parks have rolls of wire left by other users but I carry my own chicken wire to be safe. Plasticized wire would be fine but they could chew through plastic fencing. The procedure is to wrap the wire entirely around the vehicle. Put rocks on the wire at ground level so they can't get under the wire and then prop sticks against the top of the wire and tie it to mirrors, grill, etc., so they can't climb over the top and in.

There seem to be fewer porcupines around in our area of the East Kootenays but I wouldn't take a chance if leaving a vehicle overnight. I don't bother with the wire if only parked for a day hike.

You named the main parks correctly. Those areas are famous around here for this problem. When I started hiking up Kokanee Glacier back in the 60's with friends that were seasoned hikers I didn't know what to think the first time they pulled out the chicken wire. Our neighbour also had a bag of Moth Balls that he would open and chuck a bunch under the Jeep. He would use the chicken wire / moth balls on over nigh hikes as well as day hikes. Back then there wasn't much activity up at the Parking lot on the Balfour side entrance and it was a long walk down the mountain if a Porcupine decided he wanted a morning snack, while we were out on a day hike
Where was are camped right now we are only 20km away from Valhalla and Kokanee Glacier and we have never had an issue here, however we are much lower in altitude and in a more populated area.

Soup.

[2lazy4U]

The trailhead into the Bugaboos has chicken wire and folks are encouraged to use it.

As for porkies in Colorado, I'm a native of W. Colorado and can't tell you how many times I've had dogs to the vet to remove quills. Lots of porkies in the timber. I've come across them on many many trails, and they usually just waddle away. They can wreak havoc on trees. I've seen them at all altitudes, except above timberline.

And tell the native Utes there aren't any porkies in Colorado - they used the quills extensively to decorate their gloves and clothing. I've seen porcupine all the way from the Craig area down into the San Juans and over into Pinon Mesa and also in Utah.

As for squirrels, I currently have a Porsche in my driveway (not mine, a friend's) that's DOA from them eating the rubber parts. Extensive damage.

[Powder_pig]

profdant139 wrote:
Powder Pig, do the porkies bother the vehicles in campgrounds at night? How would the animal know if you are out backpacking or asleep in the trailer nearby? (On second thought, they could probably hear me snoring. That'll scare them away for sure!)

The porkies wouldn't know or care if you were in the vehicle or not but none of the trailheads I am thinking of have campgrounds located there. We have never had a porcupine issue in any National or Provincial Park campground we have stayed at but I have had issues with them while staying in alpine cabins---they chew on plywood if it is exposed. I have a friend who had to go out in the middle of the night to do battle with a porkie which was chewing on the underside of his camper in a more remote Forestry campsite. We don't see nearly as many porcupines out on the trail as we used to see but they still are around albeit in smaller numbers.

[jimbob3ca]

There can be a problem with porcupines in the East Kootenays. On one occasion I left my vehicle at a trailhead near Top of the World park for a four day backpack. Didn't notice anything wrong when I returned, but a few days later, a kind driver informed me that I had no rear brake lights. Upon inspection I discovered that the wiring had been chewed through. I found teeth indentations is a couple of spots underneath where a tar-like sealer was used . Not absolutely sure that it was a porcupine, but sure looked like it.
On another occasion a camper in a near-bye site at a Forest Service campsite had a radiator hose chewed through and had to get his camping buddy to drive him 50 miles into town for a replacement. It is a fairly common sight at the Forest Service campsites to see any exposed plywood on the outhouse chewed extensively. They often cover the bottom of the door in particular with a tin layer. I have seen chicken wire at the trailhead in Kokanee Glacier Park in the West Kootenays as well. I think it is not provided by Parks, but left by one-time users for the next person.

[Fizz]

Just a FYI on porcupines.
We have them at the cottage and they can do terrible damage.

You know how they slowly waddle along without a care.
One day I had enought of it.
I ran up and gave it a good wack with a heavy stick.
That thing picked up it's skirt and ran like a dog, surprisingly fast.
Haven't seen him since.

[paulj]

Yes, it was the dry campground on the rim, about 8000'. It was in the fall, and we had the campground to ourselves. I remember a ranger stopping by to make sure we didn't have a gun rack in the back of the cab (no hunters camping in the NP?).

Mesa Falls was also a case of a lightly used dry camp.

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[fanrgs]

paulj wrote:
I have had 2 porcupine encounters. One was in Gunnison Nat Park, Colorado. I heard something under my truck camper, and chased it around the campground a bit by flashlight.

You are probably referring to Black Canyon NP on the Gunnison River.

Your sighting is interesting to us since my wife is a Colorado native and I have lived here for 50 years and neither of us has ever seen a live porcupine in this state outside a zoo. And we both worked all over the state, including my stint in the 1960's as a surveyor for the Forest Service.

We didn't see any on our trip to Alaska last summer, although we camped in some pretty remote sites in BC. Guess some people just have all the luck!

[profdant139]

Powder Pig, do the porkies bother the vehicles in campgrounds at night? How would the animal know if you are out backpacking or asleep in the trailer nearby? (On second thought, they could probably hear me snoring. That'll scare them away for sure!)