Dill Prickles

A large adult porcupine began visiting the Long Lake campus in the fall of 2022. At first, the visits were infrequent and irregular, but soon became a daily occurrence. We eventually found his home and learned his routine. Everyday, he would climb the oak near the Lab, eat and then head to the stand of red pines across campus where he would rest before heading to bed in a culvert on campus. His constant presence made it seem like he was part of the Long Lake family. Thanks to the public, the porcupine was named Dill Prickles.

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It never ceased to be an absolute joy to see Dill being Dill, but it was the fact that nearly every student who visited campus got to see a porcupine up close.  That's close to 10,000 kids! And he seemed to enjoy - or at least tolerate - us nosy humans. There were plenty of times when we were close enough to hear him chew. Occasionally, he would chatter his teeth at us in warning. 

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Dill returned to campus last September after his summer break and was ever present for the next week. Shortly after that, we received a report of a porcupine that appeared to be in distress near the bog. The next morning we found it dead. We hoped that it wasn't Dill, expecting him to waddle through campus as usual, as he has done for the past three years. Sadly, that didn't happen. We believe that Dill was an older porcupine who chose Long Lake for his retirement home, and that his death was a natural and peaceful one. Though we miss seeing him, we know he will live on in the memories of the Long Lake team, and, more importantly, the thousands of students who got to know him. We hope that one of his offspring will find Long Lake and follow in the footsteps of this legend. Rest in peace, friend.