Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 24, 2014

Mountain Views-News Saturday, May 24, 2014 8 JUST FOR BEST FRIENDS Mountain Views-News Saturday, May 24, 2014 8 JUST FOR BEST FRIENDS 
Happy Tails 
by Chris Leclerc 
THE MORAL OF THE 
PRICKLY, PRECARIOUSPORCUPINE 
I recently received an e-mail 
from a good friend of mine, 
offering an interesting moral 
derivative about what might 
be considered a somewhat 
controversial survival 
technique employed by the 
prickly porcupine. When I read 
the e-mail I was immediately 
inspired to write about that 
curiously contentious, yet 
undeniably cute little creature. 
The e-mailed story was entitled, 
“The Moral of the Porcupine” 
and it included a few photos of 
infant porcupines nestled in a 
human’s hand. To me, the baby 
“porcs” in the pictures looked a 
lot like small bundled-up balls 
of fur with minute, mouse-
like faces that you can’t help 
falling in love with. As far as 
my memory serves me, I don’t 
think I had ever seen a baby 
porcupine before, and I was 
amazed at how adorable the 
small ones really are. 
The baby porcupine somehowreminds me of the woodlouse, 
which is a strangely pre-historic 
looking insect that most of us 
have seen crawling about in 
our yards and gardens. Very 
much like the woodlouse 
(more commonly known to 
lay-persons such as myself as a 
“rollie pollie“), baby porcupines 
know how to curl themselves up 
into a tight round ball as a means 
of protecting their soft and very 
vulnerable underbellies any 
time they sense the danger of a 
potential intruder. 
Although the two have very 
little else in common, the 
porcupine and the 
oddly armored 
woodlouse termite do 
happen to share one 
particularly unique 
characteristic. They 
both have upper sides 
to their bodies that 
serve as an effective 
protective defense 
mechanism. The 
main difference is 
that the upper side of 
the woodlouse’s body 
is comprised of a hard shell, 
whereas the porcupine’s upper 
side is designed more like a 
prickly bed of needle-like nails! 
The basic gist of the “moral” 
given in the e-mail I received, 
is that while the long, pointy 
pokers on the upper side of 
the porcupine may serve as an 
important means of survival 
against a threatening predator, 
they also have the potential 
to prohibit vital bonding, by 
getting in the way when the 
infants simply want to snuggle 
with their siblings. Indeed, this 
is where the valuable lesson 
comes in to play. And, if it is 
interpreted, understood and 
applied properly, this is a lesson 
that can actually help lead to 
a longer, happier life for we 
simple-minded human beings. 
The fond fable of the porcupine 
goes a little like this: It was the 
coldest winter ever, and many of 
the wild animals in that region 
had already died from exposure 
to the freezing temperatures. 
Realizing the situation, the 
thoughtful porcupines decided 
to group together to keep warm. 
It seemed like the logical thing 
to do, to share the warmth of 
each other’s bodies and thereby 
survive through the cold winter. 
However, the closer the tiny 
porcs came together, the more 
their quills began to inflict 
wounds on the soft under flesh 
of the loved ones they were 
closest to. 
After a while, the little 
porcupines decided to distance 
themselves from one another 
to prevent the poking effect, 
and before long they each 
began to die alone and frozen 
like the other animals that had 
succumbed to the elements that 
season. Soon it became clear 
that they had to make a choice; 
either accept the painful pricks 
of their closest companions’ 
quills, or die alone. Wisely, the 
young porcupines opted to stick 
close together and learn to live 
with the wounds caused by the 
quills of their siblings, in order 
to share the warmth and survive 
the chill. 
And so, the moral of the story 
is that the best relationships in 
life are not necessarily those 
that bring together perfect 
people who do not chafe or 
“rub one another wrong“, 
rather one must learn to live 
with the prickly, uncomfortable 
wounds that come with close 
relationships while learning to 
appreciate the good qualities of 
a companion and the warmth 
they share in order to survive 
and thrive in this world. 
For what it’s worth, this simple 
short but sweet story about the 
precarious porcupine comes 
with an enormous moral, and 
it had a huge impact on me, 
personally. I hope the moral 
of this story will be valued by 
others who hear it. Animals can 
teach us so many wonderful 
unique lessons in life. I say, 
let them be our teachers. May 
we humans learn to respect all 
living things, and may we learn 
to humble ourselves enough to 
love and let live! 
“SQUATTER IN LOS ANGELES” 
A new e-book on Kindle 
By Christoper Nyerges 
Nyerges is a naturalist who is mostly known for his books on 
wild foods, survival, and self-reliance, and his other books are 
available on Kindle, Amazon, and fine bookstores everywhere. 
He has led self-reliance field trips since 1974. He can be 
reached via School of Self-Reliance, Box 41834, Eagle Rock, 
CA 90041, or www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com. 
“Squatter in Los 
Angeles: Life on 
the Edge” is the 
true story of my 
year and a half as a squatter in the Highland 
Park district of Los Angeles. This book is not 
intended as a how-to guide, nor is it meant to 
encourage anyone to break any laws. It happens 
to be the true story of what I did during a very 
influential time in my life. I learned how to get 
more for less, and I realized – just like Thoreau 
at his pond in the woods – that we can live quite 
well and fulfilled if we attempt to differentiate 
our true needs from mere wants. 
I share how I came to be a squatter, and some 
of the details of moving into an empty house. 
In the book I describe the concern of never 
knowing when someone would come up the 
driveway and tell me to get out (which never 
quite happened), and how I took the time to 
learn about gardening, permaculture, recycling 
of resources and water recycling. 
It’s true I had no rent to pay so I was able to 
devote more time to learning things. But I also 
had hardly any income, which made it clear to 
me why most people get regular jobs. But I was 
in my early 20s at the time, and still trying to 
figure things out. 
“Squatter in Los Angeles” is about 100 pages 
on Kindle, and it’s a fast moving story of the 
mixed experiences during this short period 
in my life: dealing with a ghost, a near-death 
experience, learning how to recycle everything, 
learning how to dowse, insights into sustainable 
gardening, an emergency toilet test, and also a 
rain dance in August with rain the next day. The 
book also includes a period of homelessness and 
how I dealt with it, and what I learned from it. 
According to Dude McLean, author of "The 
Songwriters Survival Guide to Success,” 
“Your story is filled with a lot of truth -- some 
might even be uncomfortable with it. All that 
means is you have touched them in a manner 
they never thought of in the past. Few authors 
make you think. They are writing to please 
others rather than being truthful to themselves. 
I think this is a very interesting and unique 
book. The book has a great lack of desperation. 
I feel it is a very positive outlook. Good job!” 
“Squatting in Los Angeles” is available as a 
Kindle download, and can also be purchased 
as Word document from the Store at www. 
SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com. 
LOOKING FOR A BEST FRIEND? 

Raven is a very sweet, lovable and cute 
black and brown short haired Chihuahua 
and Min Pin mix has the best traits of both 
breeds! She is looking for a special person 
or family to call her own, toss toys for her 
to play with, and take her on daily walks 
or runs. 

Raven has a calm temperament and has 
demonstrated that she is adaptable in 
different social situations. She participated 
in a big fund raising event for the shelter, 
“Tea for Tails.” She had several costume 
changes and proudly ‘strutted her stuff ’ in 
front of an appreciative, happy audience. 
She was very cooperative, easy to handle 
and behaved beautifully in front of the 
happy group. Raven has also spent a lot of 
time with other dogs, in kennels, on pack 
walks and in play yards. We are pleased to 
report that she gets along famously with 
all of them. She is a social butterfly, but 
when it comes down to it, she prefers the 
company of people! 

Raven is approximately five years old and 
although she has adapted to shelter life, she is longing and waiting for her new family to adopt her and 
welcome her into their home. If you feel a connection with her, please come and introduce yourself. 
You might be the one she is waiting for. 



She currently resides at the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society located at 851 E. Grand Avenue in San 
Gabriel. We are located off San Gabriel Blvd., north of Mission and south of Las Tunas. 

To arrange a ‘Meet and Greet’ with Raven (aka…5081), please stop by any time from 10:00am to 
4:30pm Tuesday thru Sunday. 

Her adoption fee is $120 which includes her spay surgery, a microchip, first vaccinations and a free 
wellness check-up at a participating veterinarian. Feel free to call us at (626) 286-1159 for more 
information on Raven. 

See our website at www.sgvhumane.org for information and photos of all our available pets. 

PET OF THE WEEK: CALVIN 

ANIMAL ID #A4706577 

Meet Calvin, a sweet little guy that is ready to give you a lifetime full of love and affection if you’ll 

let him! Calvin (A4706577) is an endearing one-year-old brown and white male Chihuahua mix 

puppy that was found tied to the gate when the Baldwin 

Park Shelter opened on May 8th. This small fellow 

weighs nine pounds, and does not seem to have had 

any leash training yet. Calvin has the classic Chihuahua 

personality of being initially shy when meeting new 

people, and then warming up quickly once he gets to 

know them. It is unfortunate that he ended up tied to 

the shelter fence, but it’s clear that this boy deserves more 

than to be abandoned. With some loving care from that 

special person lucky enough to be his owner, he will be 

able to trust and be comfortable just living his life as a 

happy-go-lucky dog. He is good with other dogs and we 

think he would be content in a family with well-behaved 


children. Calvin is a soulful companion and lapdog for 

anyone in any living situation. To watch a video of Calvin please visit the following link: 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-w81H5rD1M 

To meet Calvin in person, please see him at the Baldwin Park Shelter, located at 4275 N. Elton, 
Baldwin Park, CA 91706 (Phone: 626-430-2378 or 626-962-3577). He is available now. For any 
inquiries about Calvin, please reference his animal ID number: A4706577. The shelter is open 
seven days a week, 12 pm-7 pm Monday-Thursday and 10am-5pm Friday-Sunday. This is a 
high-intake shelter with a great need for adoptions. For more information about Calvin or the 
adoption process, contact United Hope for Animals Volunteer Adoption Coordinator Samantha at 
Samantha@hope4animals.org. To learn more about United Hope for Animals’ partnership with the 
Baldwin Park Shelter through its Shelter Support Program, as well as the many dogs of all breeds, 
ages, and sizes available for adoption in local shelters, visit http://www.unitedhope4animals.org/
about-us/shelter-support-program/.