{"id":332348,"date":"2025-12-08T12:35:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/332348\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T12:35:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:35:23","slug":"baby-porcupine-frequently-seen-in-peterboroughs-east-city-now-in-the-care-of-shades-of-hope-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/332348\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby porcupine frequently seen in Peterborough\u2019s East City now in the care of Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a>A young porcupine that has been hanging around a section of the Rotary Greenway Trail in Peterborough’s East City during the fall has been taken to Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge in Pefferlaw where it was discovered to have an upper respiratory infection and potentially pneumonia. Due to its size and young age, the porcupette will remain in the care of the refuge over the winter until it can be released in the spring. (Photo: Christine Jaros \/ Facebook)<\/p>\n

A baby porcupine that was frequently seen wandering beside a section of trail in Peterborough\u2019s East City earlier this fall is now in the care of a wildlife sanctuary.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the word from Steve Paul, who posted an update on Thursday (December 4) that he received from the Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge in Pefferlaw, located just west of Kawartha Lakes in the Town of Georgina, about the baby porcupine \u2014 also called a porcupette.<\/p>\n

While Paul is best known as the founder of Clean Up Peterborough (for which he was recently recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Clubs of Peterborough), he also has a reputation as a wildlife advocate, so when he noticed posts being made in the East City PTBO Neighbourhood Hub Facebook group about a porcupette being spotted in the daytime alongside the Rotary Greenway Trail between Hunter and Douro Streets, he took an interest.<\/p>\n

Advertisement – content continues below<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs it happened over probably a two to three-week period and people were seeing it quite often, in the back of my mind I started to ask myself if there could be something wrong with it,\u201d says Paul. \u201cIs it a little bit too young (to be on its own)?\u201d<\/p>\n

As a volunteer for Trumpeter Swan Conservation Ontario for a number of years, Paul has helped bring injured or sick trumpeter swans to nearby animal hospitals, including one back in June. Through this work, he has learned that when it comes to trying to rescue wildlife, \u201cyou don\u2019t want to get involved too early,\u201d as that could be more harmful to the animal if it\u2019s not actually in need. <\/p>\n

In the case of porcupines, which are the second largest rodent species after the beaver, that can also be potentially hazardous for the rescuer given the animal\u2019s natural defences \u2014 barbed quills that will easily detach and become embedded in a predator. <\/p>\n

\"During<\/a>During the fall, residents of East City in Peterborough frequently reported seeing a porcupette on the ground along the Rotary Greenway Trail between Hunter and Douro streets. After consulting with Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge in Pefferlaw when she noticed the young porcupine sat in the same spot for two hours with laboured breathing, a concerned resident captured the rodent and took it to the refuge, where it was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection. (Photo: Emily Higg \/ Facebook)<\/p>\n

Paul adds, since young porcupines often wait on the ground while their mother is nearby foraging in trees, he decided to monitor the sightings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tend to take a backseat approach because the last thing you want to do is use your human heart and go, \u2018The world\u2019s ending,’\u201d says Paul. \u201cThat\u2019s how people end up taking deer fawns (into rescues) when they should be leaving them alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

But upon seeing another concerned citizen make a post in the Facebook group on Sunday, November 23 asking if someone could help the porcupette, he decided to call Shades of Hope, which told him someone had already reported their concerns about the animal.<\/p>\n

Advertisement – content continues below<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shades of Hope recommended to Paul that, based on the size of the porcupine, it should be captured and brought to the facility for examination. Paul told the refuge he planned to do so that Tuesday but then, late on Monday, Shades of Hope contacted him and advised somebody else had already captured the animal and brought it in.<\/p>\n

That person was Jessie Rose Powell, who had posted that Monday afternoon in the Peterborough and Kawartha Wildlife Facebook group that she noticed the porcupine appeared to be sick, staying in the same spot for two hours with \u201claboured breathing and wheezing.\u201d She also called Shades of Hope, described the animal\u2019s condition, and they advised her to capture the porcupette and bring it in, which she did later that same afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re one of the largest wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centres in our area,\u201d says Paul about Shades of Hope. \u201cThey take over 7,000 intakes in a year, so they\u2019re always busy. Anytime I show up there, there\u2019s always someone calling about squirrels, raccoons \u2014 all these animals. It never stops.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Among<\/a>Among many species of injured or sick wildlife, Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge in Pefferlaw cares for porcupines of all ages. Once the porcupette rescued from East City in Peterborough recovers from its respiratory infection while in the care of Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge, it will be introduced to another porcupette while it spends the winter at the refuge. (Photo: Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge)<\/p>\n

On Wednesday (December 3), Paul received an update from Shades of Hope about the status of the porcupette, which was discovered to have an upper respiratory infection and potentially pneumonia. Shades of Hope also said that the animal was too young to be on its own based on its age and size (porcupines leave their mothers when they are about five months old), and would spend the winter at the refuge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes you wonder if mom got killed by a car,\u201d says Paul. \u201cYou\u2019d never normally see them (in the daytime) \u2014 they\u2019d only be out at night.\u201d <\/p>\n

Paul says Shades of Hope told him that, after the porcupette recovers from its infection, it will be introduced to another porcupette at the refuge. While porcupines are solitary in nature, they may den with other porcupines throughout the winter. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they\u2019re keeping young ones over the winter, they (Shades of Hope) eventually try to bring them together, even just for company,\u201d says Paul. \u201cWhen they\u2019re young, they can form bonds with each other, and (Shades of Hope founder) Gail (Lenters) did tell me that there is a possibility that these two may bond over the winter.\u201d <\/p>\n

Advertisement – content continues below<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paul says the plan is for the porcupine to be released back into the wild in the spring, and he hopes to be there for the occasion. In the meantime, he\u2019ll continue to do what he can for local wildlife while also sharing stories like this to encourage others to see the inspiring work done by rescues like Shades of Hope. <\/p>\n

Calling Shades of Hope a \u201cwonderful organization,\u201d Paul encourages people who encounter a wild animal that appears to need help to first reach out to Shades of Hope and ask questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you also know you can trust them with any animal and know they\u2019re going to take care of a little baby porcupette that could need care for five or sixth months, and they\u2019re never going to abandon it. It doesn\u2019t matter how much it costs to take care of that animal, big or small, you know they\u2019re going to be there.\u201d <\/p>\n

He also encourages people to support Shades of Hope by making a donation at www.shadesofhope.ca\/donate.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A young porcupine that has been hanging around a section of the Rotary Greenway Trail in Peterborough’s East…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-332348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}