PORCUPINE

Porcupine Tsit Erethizon dorsatum

The porcupine ranges throughout the Yukon and occasional records from the arctic coastal plain show that it does move beyond the treeline (Youngman 1975). Porcupine were common in the 1960s in the more densely wooded areas of the Vuntut Gwitchin country, particularly along the upper Porcupine River (Balikci 1963). Museum specimens from the Old Crow Basin area include individuals from Joe Creek in Ivvavik National Park and Rampart House. Porcupines were reported in the Joe Creek area in the 1980s (Jingfors 1993). An arctic fox skull with porcupine quills imbedded was found along the Firth River in 1988 (Jingfors 1993). In recent years porcupines have been seen at Sheep Creek in Ivvavik National Park and a dead porcupine was found in the Black Fox/ Dog Creek area of Vuntut National Park (Markel pers. comm. 1999). In the southern Yukon porcupines became scarce by the mid to late 1940s and were still scarce in 1965 (Youngman 1975). Many porcupines were reported to have frozen to death in the cold winter of 1942-43 (Rand 1945). In the Kluane region porcupines were reported to be numerous in the 1970s but scarce during most of the 1990s, while recently making a small come-back in numbers (Henry, pers. comm. 1999). These observations suggest cycles or dramatic fluctuations in the porcupine populations in the Yukon. Balikci (1963) reported that porcupines in the Old Crow area had been intensively hunted for their tasty flesh, and had become very rare by 1961. Porcupine quills were traditionally used by Vuntut Gwitchin women to decorate clothing. When beads became available from the HBC traders, the use of quills declined, however, this traditional use has been revived in recent years.