Porcupines, Bees, Frost

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-Our dog (Chelsea, a dachshund/terrier mix) had her first encounter with a porcupine while we were hiking the six mile Morrison trail near Kinzua resevoir a few weeks back. She approached it with curiosity and probably a little aggression, to which the porcupine responded with seven or eight quills in the snout before climbing up a nearby tree. There were two or three near her nose which no doubt stung when I yanked on them one by one, and she responded like a little kid getting splinters removed, but all in all appreciated that I was helping and within a few minutes was running happily down the trail. I assume that she learned something from the experience, because porcupines are common around here and we often see them killed along the roadsides. They are slow moving animals, as big as a large groundhog and bloated looking from all the quills, yet seem to be as vulnerable to automobiles as opossums are in the eastern part of the state.
The wild honeybee hive is in a tree near the town of Russell, a few miles from here, and is one of two that I am aware of in the area. I am attentive to such things because of the apparent virus that has been killing off honeybees in the last few years, and which could be extremely serious to agriculture and our food supply if it continues. Fortunately, proper hygiene seems to help lower the risk for commercial hives and scientists think they have isolated the culprit which will help find a cure. For awhile everything from pesticides to electromagnetic radiation to stress was being suggested as the cause.
The frost was on the railing outside my door on May 18th, which just goes to illustrate the mountain weather here. There were isolated incidences of frost in the mountains until the end of the month and even a little snow in upstate New York. So far Warren has had mixed weather with some highs near sixty, some near seventy, and one or two eighty degrees days since spring. Warren is definitely the place to be if you don't like oppressive heat, because you rarely see ninety degrees, although fortunately the sun shines much more than in winter.