How to Kill Porcupines with Poison or Other Methods



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How To Kill A Porcupine
Porcupines are animals that are well known for their interesting appearance and mostly for their sharp barbed quills which can cause a lot of damage to flesh if they become lodged. They are a particular problem for dogs who fill find that chasing porcupines is almost impossible to resist, and the quills can often become lodged in the flesh around their mouth and in their paws too. Porcupines have often been said to propel their quills to hit a potential predator, but this is a myth and they cannot do this, but the damage that they can cause to a domestic garden will often drive people to want to kill these animals.

Shooting A Porcupine
One of the options when it comes to killing a porcupine is to use a shotgun or rifle, and because porcupines are relatively slow moving it is fairly straightforward to shoot a porcupine. However, this is not a particularly wise course of action as they will often drop their quills over much of your yard or garden if the animal isn't killed instantly, and these are a major hazard. Another problem is that this is only really a viable method in rural areas, because of the danger of using firearms in populated areas.

Lethal Traps For Porcupines
Killing porcupines using a lethal trap is another method that some people will use when they are trying to solve a porcupine problem, and for the skilled trapper then this can be effective. The problem with using lethal traps is that they aren't always discriminate in what animals they kill, and the type of bait that will attract a porcupine is also likely to attract other animals. Porcupines are generally vegetarian and will be particularly attracted to bark and other hard plants which they can gnaw upon, and near these kinds of plants will be the best place to locate the trap.

Poisoning Porcupines
One of the difficulties with poisoning a porcupine is that the porcupine doesn't really eat a specific type of food, rather it can eat all sorts of plants and bark, and placing poison will often kill other animals rather than porcupines. The other problem that people will encounter when they are using poison is that it can be very difficult to locate the carcass after the animal has died. What this means is that the smell of a decaying animal will often attract other animals that are even more of a problem than porcupines.

Alternatives To Killing The Porcupine
Porcupines are creatures that aren't particularly clever or cunning, and the reality is that they do not really need to be killed in order to get them away from your yard or garden. One option that can be used to deal with the problem is to catch the porcupine in a cage trap and then to remove the animal at least five miles away from the property. Location is vital when catching a porcupine, as they are not as susceptible as many other animals to being attracted by bait.

Another option if you are experiencing repeated problems with porcupines is to look at options to prevent them from getting into the garden in the first place. A good exclusion fence made from a mesh with relatively small holes will usually be good enough to keep the porcupines out, and should be embedded around twelve inches below the ground around your property so that they cannot dig underneath. There are many people who won't be able to or won't want to erect a new fence around the property, so it is also possible to change the garden or yard so that it is less attractive to porcupines. Simple steps like keeping garbage in a shed or garage and wrapping tree trunks in a wire mesh can make your garden much less attractive to a porcupine.

More in-detail how-to porcupine removal articles:


Information about porcupine trapping - analysis and methods for how to trap.
Information about how to keep porcupines away - prevention techniques.
Information about how to catch a porcupine - remove one stuck in the house.
Information about porcupine repellent - analysis of types and effectiveness.

This site is intended to provide porcupine education and information about how to kill porcupines with poison, so that you can make an informed decision if you need to deal with a porcupine problem. This site provides many porcupine control articles and strategies, if you wish to attempt to solve the problem yourself. If you are unable to do so, which is likely with many cases of porcupine removal, please go to the home page and click the USA map, where I have wildlife removal experts listed in over 500 cites and towns, who can properly help you kill your nuisance porcupine.

Click here to read more about how to get rid of porcupines.

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