evidence: What many people don’t realize is that porcupines readily migrate to greener pastures in spring. An acquaintance lost several beds of early lettuce, peppers, and flats of impatiens. Summer was uneventful. But then in fall, she lost all her cucumbers, zucchinis, butternut squashes, and eggplants. She remained mystified until her backyard surveillance camera revealed a porcupine raiding her unfenced raised beds. In May, porcupines seek the tender leaves of sweet maples and juicy sapwood beneath the bark of birch and poplar twigs. As more tender greens become available, porcupines migrate to fields, pastures, and even ornamental trees. I’ve found several juvenile "porcupette" grazing on dandelions and clover at dusk in our open pasture. [...] Porcupines are accessible to us. Compared to other wildlife, they are relatively abundant, conspicuous, slow-moving, and prone to habituate areas inhabited by people and pets. They’re almost "cute" with an endearing, comical quality about their manner. It’s easy to be ambivalent about them: You love them for their endearing traits while hating them for their damage to gardens, trees, structures, and pets.