Monday, January 12, 2009

The Porcupine Plague





(Above: The beast that ate Telluride.)

I've always believed that if you come across two stories about porcupines in one day, the universe is probably trying to tell you something. The question is . . . what?

The first story comes complete with an absolutely irresistible title: "Telluride Deals With Porcupine Plague." Apparently, the prickly creatures have invaded the ritzy Colorado ski resort. And this time, they mean business. They've been consuming tool handles, footwear, tires, and pretty much anything else with a salty taste. They've also upset residents by nibbling on decorative spruce trees and eating a front door or two. No one knows what's caused one of the world's largest rodents to embark on such a rampage. And we may never have the chance to find out now that Telluride residents are facing a new and terrifying threat: marmots. My prayers are with them.

The second story concerns the porcupines at New York's Bronx Zoo. From what I gathered from the video posted here, they're being laid off now that the zoo's budget has been cut. Very sad indeed. (But how cute is that rodent?)

If I come across a third porcupine story in the next few hours, I'll know something is definitely up!

14 comments:

Random Irregular said...

Awwww...
The marmots look like a beaver( I've actually never seen a beaver, but I assume they look like a marmot from what I've seen.) They look so cuddly!

Poison Pen said...

Wow. Poor Telluride. I'm going to have to email this to a friend of mine who's really into skiing. (skiing = such a weird word to spell.)
Random Irregular: Marmots and beavers look similar, but beavers have the large, flat tails, and bigger teeth. They both look cuddly, but only give one a hug if it's a stuffed animal! Wild animals are not typically fond of hugs.

Nellie said...

OUCH!

Amanda said...

hi!

I am a fan of the book, I live in Brazil. Many people here in Brazil want to know when the second book in the series comes here, and if there is a third party. Could you tell us?

thank you,

Amanda ♥

Ren (All By MySHELF) said...

Awww, that's the cutest little plague ever!!! Me loves porcupines. Hehe. XD

sleeping aliens said...

They're on strike! They're tired of being laid off so they eat our stuff.
Dante's.Inferno: Skiing is a wierd word and a wierd sport, even wierder now that you have to look out for rampaging porcupines!

Orchid said...

At least it's not a plague of locusts.

Isabela said...

They're testing ways of world domination!RUN!
Amanda: Eu também sou brasileira,e perguntei isso para ela também=)

Kitty said...

Porcupines are cute, spiny fluff balls of doom! XD

sleeping aliens said...

Maybe I could join them and help them take over the world! Get rid of Communism and all that.

Poison Pen said...

Sleeping aliens: I know!! Don't run over the little guys!!
O_O Holy cow, I just had a flashback to the Veggietales movie Jonah... Remember when the porcupines shot out the van's tires? Yeah, that's what I'm thinking of.

Girlskickbutt!!! said...

wow! thats odd?

UU said...

WOW! I used to likve like an hour from Telluride, and we went there a ton to ski and stuff. (Now we moved though, so I live in CA, where it NEVER snows!) Anyway, I have seen a lot of Marmots there, but never a porkipine. Hmm...

liltomboybluesle said...

sleeping aliens: Ha ha, me and my friends always like to say that my school is communist because our principle is a major control freak, he created a strict dress code (might as well assign a uniform) made lanes out of tape for us to walk in (yeah, because middle schoolers are totally cars), and made it so that half of the stairs are only up,and the other half are only down. :( Most people push (or just break) the rules anway. These are only a few examples, but I think it gets the point across... ;)