HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- The Pennsylvania Game Commission is considering an open season on porcupines because of complaints about their voracious chewing.
At the moment, the well-armed animals are protected in the state, although nuisance porcupines can be trapped and removed. The commission's alternatives are creating a season when they can be hunted, launching a public education program on getting along with them or maintaining the status quo, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Tuesday.
Porcupines, the second-largest North American rodent, are known for their sharp quills. But Jay Delaney, president of the game commission board, said it is their teeth and appetite for salt that have made them a pest, chewing into everything from log houses and backyard sheds to the brake lines of cars.
"They can do some fairly severe damage to properties," Delaney said.
Wildlife officials say very little is known about porcupine numbers or their range in Pennsylvania. Anecdotal information suggests they are spreading.
Delaney said they are likely to be on the agenda when the commission meets in early October in Wilkes-Barre.
"It's absolutely on the radar screen. It will be addressed, we're just not sure in which fashion," Delaney said.
