Porkypine!

I know it's really spelled porcupine, but I don't care. I saw one on Monday at one of our wind turbine locations. One of the landowners in the area said that they've only come into the area within the last 50 years. The one I saw was moving pretty slowly, so who knows how long ago they actually started working their way into the area....

This is a zoom-in, since I didn't want to get too close!

After he got out of eyesight, I turned around and started walking back to tell the guy I was surveying with what I had just seen. About two steps in, a jackrabbit darted out of the bushes. I nearly peed my pants thinking that I had just startled another porcupine, until I saw the ears. With all the mishaps I've had in the field, getting spiked by a porcupine is not one I had considered.