Porcupines are native to our area of the Martis Valley, and generally they stay to themselves rarely interacting with people. Like most of the wildlife at Lahontan, if there are animals hanging around an area that people frequent, it is related to food that people are making available. We have experienced this with bears, a bobcat, and this week I have removed 2 porcupines up at the lodge. The bait used was apples, and it took less than 12 hours for each of these critters to find, and recognize them as food. Which is interesting because there are no wild apples at Lahontan, and I have found apples discarded by golfers in the exact area that I am finding the porcupines.
Now, why are a couple of porcupines a problem? Well, it is because they girdle trees to feed on the bark when food is scarce, and there are some trees that are severely damaged around the lodge. There are approximately 8 trees damaged, ranging is size from 10 feet to 50 feet that are between the golf shop, and the cart path at the 18th green.
