Looking back on this day it was really special. On this day we visited 4 beaches, found the right pieces of driftwood for plant hangers and got a much needed bag of seaweed. We also had a guest to our home, which is why we felt we needed to go to beach number four, Mary's point!
Moments before spotting this porcupine we had let our dog off leash. Luckily she went right back on without noticing or we would have been in a real bad situation. I'm not sure what this porcupines plan was, maybe eating some seaweed for extra salt or just getting some beach time. We were given a minor miracle here in that we got the dog on leash in time to avert these two animals meeting nose to nose!
I don't think I've ever seen a porcupine at the beach before this. It was just a young porcupine maybe 2 years old at the oldest. He's bristling up his back quills, ready to defend himself! They are in the same family as sloths so their top speed is a light walk, and it took him quite a while to make his retreat to the forest. We got to really check him out a great experience for my son and sister in law Victoria who was visiting with us. She is from a large city, Dartmouth Nova Scotia, so she has never been this close to one! Levi and I saw a large one biking a few weeks back on our home road.
We got some seaweed collected for our garden from the rock beach near Cape enrage. Seaweed is a great addition to your soil and is also a great mulch. It can be used on top of potted plants to reduce watering needs for container tomatoes for instance. I had forgot bags(again) and voila one appeared within my eyesight, so I used it and got a bag filled in under five minutes.
I love this picture of the family with Mary's point island in the background. This used to be a farming and fishing community with some 20 families living here at one point. The road is all but a trail now, it makes for a really cool but long two to three hours hike if you want to go all the way out to the point. There are a couple of foundations still visible out there and the rock formations at the point are really unique and great for climbing.
It is called Mary's point for a native woman whose fiancee died, doubly unfortunate for her because she was pregnant. Neither the french or native communities would take her in so she took her life thier lives out here on the point in desperation.
My father told me many of the ghost stories of our area, he had a real love for history and genealogy. Hope you enjoy the historical and gardening lore, talk to you again soon!
Lovely post @mobios. How very fortunate your doggo didn't have a run in with that porcupine, and how lucky you were all able to enjoy seeing the porcupine in such an unusual area. I will remember to grab a bag of seaweed next time I am at the beach!
Thank you!