Porcupines and Preschool

On Wednesday it was my turn to host Carly's preschool playgroup again. I really enjoy these four kids. They are great friends and play very well together.
In the midst of their play the other day, I looked out the window and saw a small porcupine across the street in our neighbor's driveway. With four preschoolers there, I realized what a great opportunity it was for them to see some wildlife. So I called them into the living room and they all lined up on the couch to peek out the window. They were all very interested in the little guy. (So were our neighbor's dogs who were watching and sometimes barking out of their front window.) My guess is that this porcupine was not quite a year old because he was so small. Still he was fun to watch. And as always I took the opportunity to remind them all that porcupines don't like to play. This is a much easier lesson to teach preschoolers than dogs. In fact, last week Knox, Lee's dog, got an Alaskan welcome porcupine style. The pictures are further down. Fortunately, he is just fine. Lee got all the quills out and was as good as new. Hopefully he learned his lesson. And Lee thinks Knox's porcupine may have been this little one since the quills he pulled out seemed pretty small. Not that I'm a porcupine expert, but it make sense to me.
Enjoy the pictures.

Investigating

The star of the show
(He's the fuzzy ball to the right of the mailbox.)

Knox's Alaskan welcome