9-7-23 - PROXY #5 REPLACED BY isopeda WHO FOUND THE ORIGINAL PROXY #5 DAMAGED. THE NEW PROXY #5 CONSISTS OF TWO LAMINATES ATTACHED WITH A RINGLET. ONE HAS A PICTURE OF THE ORIGINAL TB AND PROXY #5 ON ONE SIDE AND THE TB’s CODE ON THE OTHER SIDE. THE SECOND HAS THE TB’s DESCRIPTION, MISSION AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR HANDLING TBs.
RE-RELEASED FOR THE 5TH TIME AS A PROXY ON 2/10/23 AFTER PROXY #4 WENT MISSING FROM A MUGGLED CACHE IN PEORIA, AZ, WHERE IT WAS INITIALLY RELEASED ON OCTOBER 5, 2022, SO PROXY #4 NEVER EVEN TRAVELED ONE MILE. PROXY #5 WAS RELEASED IN THE REPLACED CONTAINER FOR THE SAME CACHE, PACK 513 WEBELOS FIRE BREATHING DUCKS TB HOTEL (GC850C3).
RE-RELEASED FOR THE 4TH TIME AS A PROXY ON 10/5/22 AFTER GOING INACTIVE WITH A GEOCACHER THAT HAD RETRIEVED IT OVER 12 MONTHS AGO, WHO, UNFORTUNATELY, PASSED AWAY RECENTLY. MAY HE RIP!! IT HAD TRAVELED ABOUT 2,267 MILES SINCE THE LAST PROXY WAS ISSUED BEFORE IT WENT INACTIVE AFTER BEING RETRIEVED NEAR WAYNEVILLE, OHIO!!
RE-RELEASED FOR THE 3RD TIME AS A PROXY ON 6/26/21 AFTER GOING MISSING FROM A CACHE WHERE IT HAD BEEN PLACED JUST OVER 2 MONTHS EARLIER. IT HAD TRAVELED OVER 3,140 MILES SINCE THE LAST PROXY WAS ISSUED BEFORE IT DISAPPEARED NEAR CATE CROSSROAD, TENNESSEE!!
RE-RELEASED FOR THE 2ND TIME AS A PROXY ON 1/10/21 AFTER GOING MISSING FROM A CACHE. IT HAD NOT TRAVELED ANY ADDITIONAL MILES BEFORE IT WENT MISSING IN METROPOLIS, ILLINOIS!!
RE-RELEASED AS A PROXY ON 9/28/19 AFTER BEING INACTIVE FOR OVER 1.5 YEARS. IT HAD TRAVELED OVER 1,930 MILES BEFORE IT BECAME INACTIVE IN PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA!!
Porky the Porcupine is brown with long sharp spines. She was initially set free by Cathy Lewis in a TB Hotel in Salunga, Pennsylvania, who wants to see her run free around the world without sticking anybody.
She is made of brushed aluminum, measures just under 2" wide and tall, and comes with a 3.5" chain for attaching to your hitchhiker.
Porcupines are large rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that protect against predators. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family Erethizontidae. Both families belong to the infraorder Hystricognathi within the profoundly diverse order Rodentia and display superficially similar coats of quills: despite this, the two groups are distinct from each other and are not closely related to each other within the Hystricognathi.
The Old World porcupines live in southern Europe, Asia (western and southern), and most of Africa. They are large, terrestrial, and strictly nocturnal. In taxonomic terms, they form the family Hystricidae.
The New World porcupines are indigenous to North America and northern South America. They live in wooded areas and can climb trees, where some species spend their entire lives. They are less strictly nocturnal than their Old World relatives, and generally smaller. In taxonomic terms, they form the family Erethizontidae.
Most porcupines are about 60–90 cm (25–36 in) long, with a 20–25 cm (8–10 in) long tail. Weighing 5–16 kg (12–35 lb), they are rounded, large, and slow, and use aposematic strategy of defense. Porcupines occur in various shades of brown, gray, and white. Porcupines' spiny protection resembles that of the unrelated erinaceomorph hedgehogs and Australian monotreme echidnas.