Dr. Tim Bean

It's sad. I mean, so there's this incredible book by Aldous Rose, U-L-D-I-S-R-O-Z-E, called The North American Porcupine. He's a professor in New York City, and he talks about he examined porcupine skeletons in museums, and he was saying a third of them have broken bones, which has got to be from falling out of trees.

It's sad. I mean, so there's this incredible book by Aldous Rose, U-L-D-I-S-R-O-Z-E, called The North American Porcupine. He's a professor in New York City, and he talks about he examined porcupine skeletons in museums, and he was saying a third of them have broken bones, which has got to be from falling out of trees.

It's sad. I mean, so there's this incredible book by Aldous Rose, U-L-D-I-S-R-O-Z-E, called The North American Porcupine. He's a professor in New York City, and he talks about he examined porcupine skeletons in museums, and he was saying a third of them have broken bones, which has got to be from falling out of trees.

They're just not that good at balance.

They're just not that good at balance.

They're just not that good at balance.

the best morsels are probably out at the end of the branches. And so I think they're probably taking some risks going out on some thin limbs that they probably shouldn't be.

the best morsels are probably out at the end of the branches. And so I think they're probably taking some risks going out on some thin limbs that they probably shouldn't be.

the best morsels are probably out at the end of the branches. And so I think they're probably taking some risks going out on some thin limbs that they probably shouldn't be.

For the porcupine, they have this special mechanism where they're not just going to come out day to day. You actually have to push into the skin. So something pushes on the top of the quill, and then that releases the muscle that's holding it in, and then they come out. Oh. So it is sort of like waxing your mustache or legs or whatever.

For the porcupine, they have this special mechanism where they're not just going to come out day to day. You actually have to push into the skin. So something pushes on the top of the quill, and then that releases the muscle that's holding it in, and then they come out. Oh. So it is sort of like waxing your mustache or legs or whatever.

For the porcupine, they have this special mechanism where they're not just going to come out day to day. You actually have to push into the skin. So something pushes on the top of the quill, and then that releases the muscle that's holding it in, and then they come out. Oh. So it is sort of like waxing your mustache or legs or whatever.

If you just pull the quill out, that would probably be super painful. But if they take their tail and like thwack a dog's face, that like engages this release mechanism that I think probably does not hurt.

If you just pull the quill out, that would probably be super painful. But if they take their tail and like thwack a dog's face, that like engages this release mechanism that I think probably does not hurt.

If you just pull the quill out, that would probably be super painful. But if they take their tail and like thwack a dog's face, that like engages this release mechanism that I think probably does not hurt.

Yeah. So the practical answer is when I was applying for my first faculty job at Humboldt State, everybody's asking me like, what are you going to study when you get up here? And I'm giving all these like lame half-assed answers because I just don't ever want to think about research again.

Yeah. So the practical answer is when I was applying for my first faculty job at Humboldt State, everybody's asking me like, what are you going to study when you get up here? And I'm giving all these like lame half-assed answers because I just don't ever want to think about research again.

Yeah. So the practical answer is when I was applying for my first faculty job at Humboldt State, everybody's asking me like, what are you going to study when you get up here? And I'm giving all these like lame half-assed answers because I just don't ever want to think about research again.

And then finally, the final night, second night, we go out to dinner with like all the other faculty in the department and they ask again, like, what are you going to study if you get up here? It popped into my head. I had seen this talk a couple years ago by this guy, Rick Schweitzer, who does a lot of conservation work in the Sierras and had done his graduate work on porcupines in Nevada.

And then finally, the final night, second night, we go out to dinner with like all the other faculty in the department and they ask again, like, what are you going to study if you get up here? It popped into my head. I had seen this talk a couple years ago by this guy, Rick Schweitzer, who does a lot of conservation work in the Sierras and had done his graduate work on porcupines in Nevada.