Friendly Noises Outside

Did you know that porcupines are noisy creatures?
I looked out of the window of the Duck and Cherry one night as I heard grunting pig-like sounds outside. Usually the sounds at night are cats on the prowl, hooting owls, and in the summertime birds who do not have a watch to tell them when it's polite to start chirping.
In the bushes I saw porcupines running around (yes, they can actually move pretty fast if they put their mind to it) oinking all the way. One ventured into our garage and Sean had to carry it out (wearing gloves).

Our last Wheaten Terrier, Choice, was an avid porcupine hunter. She came home one evening, after having run off, with needles in her cheeks. I carefully picked them out and wiped her off.

One time on a walk with Choice, a porcupine sat on a grassy hill next to the path. When it noticed the dog, it rolled up into a little ball to protect itself, but did not remember that it was sitting on a hill. The poor thing spun down the mound just to land at the bottom, confused and dizzy.

Arnfinn says he wakes up in the morning from sounds of sheep bleating. Baa! Baa! I have to giggle. Where on earth do we live to have sheep waking us up in the morning? Next to the Duck and Cherry is a wooded area and the farmer next door often keeps horses or sheep there. I love it. We can sit on our veranda eating dinner and watch the sheep. Hector gets all excited. After all, he kind of resembles a sheep - a little . . .