How Porcupine Got His Quills

I'm going to follow David's lead and put up my creative project too. My kids thought it was clever, so I hope you enjoy it too.

How Porcupine Got His Quills

A long, long time ago, Porcupine didn’t have quills. He only had a thick coat of fur, but that didn’t keep him safe like Skunk’s stink. To protect himself, porcupine hid in holes that he would dig, but this made it hard for Porcupine to see his friends, Skunk and Rabbit.

One day Porcupine was out looking for food when Bear came along. Bear said, “I’m sorry Porcupine but I am hungry. I haven’t come across food for a while. I need to fatten up for the winter, so I am going to have to eat you.”

Porcupine was too smart to just let Bear eat him, so he thought he would try to trick him. “I just came from over there, Bear. There are some berries, and they are Mmm Mmm good. So juicy,” Porcupine said, rubbing his furry tummy. “The best berries all season.”

Bear looked toward where Porcupine was pointing. He knew that berry season was over. “I don’t see a patch of berries,” he said.

“Over there behind that tree,” said Porcupine.

Bear trotted over to get a better look, and Porcupine ran and hid in a hollow log that was close by. Bear looked around the tree, but there were no berries there. Porcupine had tricked him. He turned around and Porcupine was gone. “That ol’ Porcupine,” Bear said. “He’s a tricky one. I should never listen to him.”

Porcupine thought he was safe in the log, and he started laughing at Bear. “Bear is so gullible,” Porcupine said.

Well, that old hollow log carried the sound of Porcupine’s giggles, and Bear heard him. Bear used his ears and his powerful nose to find Porcupine. “Come out of there, Porcupine,” said Bear. “I need to fatten up for my winter sleep.”

“No,” said Porcupine. “I don’t want you to eat me.”

“Alright,” said Bear. “I’ll just sit here and wait. You have to come out sometime.”

Porcupine settled down in the middle of the log. Bear will fall asleep after a while, he thought. And then I’ll tiptoe around him and run home.

Bear sat right beside that log and kept one eye on one hole and the other eye on the other hole. He was determined to eat Porcupine. Once Porcupine tried to sneak a peek out of one side of the log, and Bear was right there. With his powerful claws, he pounced but he missed Porcupine, so Porcupine went back to the center of the log and tried to wait for Bear to fall asleep.

But Bear didn’t fall asleep. In fact, Bear was becoming impatient, and he was looking around trying to figure out how to get Porcupine out of that log. He used his long arms to reach into one end of the log, but Porcupine just went to the other end where Bear couldn’t reach him. Bear also tried to use his powerful claws to scratch a hole in the middle of the log, but that gave him splinters in his paws.

Behind the log, there was big hill. If Bear could roll the log down that hill, maybe Porcupine would fly out. Then Bear would have his supper. Bear began to rock the log back and forth to free it from its resting place. He pushed, and he pulled. He pushed, and he pulled.

Porcupine was inside the log laughing. What did Bear think he was doing? Bear was strong, but there was no way he could move that log.

The log rocked back and forth, back and forth. Bear almost had it over the hump. He gave one, big, long push, and the log broke free. It started rolling down the hill, slowly at first, but then it picked up speed.

Porcupine stopped laughing. He was scared. He tumbled over and over inside the log as it got faster. He didn’t know where he was going. All he could do was hold on.

Bear chased the log down the hill. He was going to grab Porcupine as soon as he fell out of that log, but the log hit a tree at the bottom of the hill. It split open, and Porcupine was thrown into the air. Bear stopped and watched as Porcupine flew in the air and then landed in a patch of thistles. There was no way he was going into that patch of thorns. Thistles hurt. He would just wait until Porcupine came out.

When Porcupine landed he rolled several times through that big thistle patch. Thorns stuck to his thick fur, but they didn’t go into his skin. Porcupine stood up slowly. He was dizzy from his ride in the log down the hill, and he felt sick. He just wanted to go home. Surly, Bear had gone away, he thought. He wouldn’t have followed him into the thistle patch. So, Porcupine waddled out of the thistle patch and headed toward home, but he couldn’t see very well. He was still dizzy.

Bear jumped out at Porcupine and grabbed him with his paws, but Bear threw him back down quickly and ran off crying. Poor Bear. He had many thorns in his paws. Porcupine saw this and laughed. He now had protection. He decided to keep his quills. He didn’t have to hide in holes any longer, and he could come out anytime he wanted to see his friends, Skunk and Rabbit.