Frequently Asked Question

Why name it The Porcupine?

Good question.

Susannah’s parents had a home at the bottom of East Hill Road, where a resident porcupine lived in a large spruce tree just outside their bedroom window. They used to sleep with the bedroom window open slightly at night, allowing their cat, Herbie, to come and go. One night, there was a commotion at the window. Susannah’s mother got up, intending to sort out the cat, but was shocked to find the porcupine trying to climb in through the window! She yelled, and Susannah’s father jumped out of bed to assist (note: her parents sleep in the nude—not the best attire for battling a porcupine). After a struggle, they managed to wrestle the porcupine back outside, though they were left with a few quills as souvenirs.

Later, Susannah’s father decided to fabricate a steel collar for the tree to discourage the porcupine from making its home so close to the house. This worked somewhat, but the porcupine simply moved into the workshop attached to the house, making its home under the floorboards.

Some time later, Susannah’s parents experienced a devastating house fire. The state fire investigator determined that it started in the workshop, likely caused by gnawed electrical wiring. The porcupine had burned their house down.

But that’s not the end of the story. A few weeks after the fire, Susannah returned to the remains of the house to retrieve some family photographs from the burned-out, waterlogged wreckage. To her surprise, she discovered that the porcupine had taken up residence in her parents’ bedroom, coming and going freely through the broken window. There was porcupine scat on their ruined mattress, and the door and window trim had been gnawed.

Clearly an example of resilience, stick-to-it-iveness, and business acumen, the porcupine has become their totem for this project and an inspiration to all involved.