Whitewater Porcupine – [Fearsome Critter]

Description

Whitewater Porcupine. – [Fearsome Critter] – (Latin: Pneumopuncus Aquablanca)

• About this critter: Once long ago it was native to the beaches and shores of New England, it eventually migrated up to various streams & whitewater rapids found & enjoyed across Maine, until it was eventually ‘driven away’ by the influx of dams. unlike your average quillpig, These incredibly spiky, semi-aquatic porcupines came to cause peril to scouts and rafters by simply getting in the way, popping their inner tubes, water-wings and taking great delight in watching them panic & fall into the waters, destroying their inflatable rafts with a loud, satisfying POP!!!

• Origin/History: The First of several critters spoken of & illustrated by Maine author, Peter Farrow in his “Ghastly perils of the Great Outdoors: A New England Bestiary” [1984] – Peter wrote the following about it:

“The Whitewater Porcupine (Pneumopuncus Aquablanca) – Though long ago driven from our pristine beaches, where it once wreaked havoc on innertubes and waterwings of yesteryear, the Pneumopunctus has come into its own again with the introduction of rafting. Concerned utility and paper companies have offered repeatedly to safeguard the public interest against this peril by damming – at their own expense – the more grossly infested streams. Sadly this corporate altruism has met with little public support. As a result, the ravages of this peril continue unabated – as the terror-stricken screams of innocent rafters will testify.”

[The book cover featuring the white water porcupine and others.]

…New England is already home to over 14,000 dams! – Damn! That’s a lotta dams!!! – more (Recently, With many New England dams aging past their useful lifespans, the government has been steadily removing them and restoring the areas to nature as well!) – Feels to me like this entry might contain a pinch of early political commentary on that!? 💁‍♀️

Lake monsters, particularly, ones that are said to attack ya while you’re out on a raft or already going over the falls, are quite a common form of hazing or are otherwise often talked about in a joking manner. (Particularly by scouts & other outdoors clubs, Really; whenever rafting or boating occurs.) – A couple other examples of critters with what feel like they might have a similar origin to this one, include the Beavershark & the Boathound.)

Alas, I couldn’t find any other folkloric links or reference to the whitewater (or otherwise aquatic) porcupines in other books. (This book itself is quite hard to get your hands on these days! Thankfully a good friend of mine has it and is keeping it safe.) Weather this is an example of a bit of ‘micro-folklore’ which peter encountered orally & recorded himself (versus something he just made up entirely himself.) is currently unknown. The book does a pretty good job at keeping the truth of it pretty vague whilst bringing up earlier lore & presenting it in a modern setting. – Regardless, Peter seems to be have been quite fond of this one as it appeared four times across the book! (Second only to his unique version of the snow-snake, the blue fellow on the cover above.) – There’s really not much more to be said about the critter or much to be found about the man online sadly from what i could gather. …But judging from his other books on yankee folklore and furred friends, he was quite a funny guy as well as an excellent cartoonist!]

[art sticker by @samkalensky (yo, thats me!) part of my fearsome critters collection of stickers! follow and support for many more!]