Talk:Porcupine

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Reference to Maine state law banning the shooting of porcupines

The Wikipedia article on Porcupines references William J. Long in citation #22:

"With regards to a Maine state law that restricted the killing of porcupines to keep them available as an emergency game for people lost in the woods, he noted: "It is undoubtedly a good law; but I cannot now imagine anyone being grateful for it, unless the stern alternative were death or porcupine."

The source material ("Wood Folk at School" by William J. Long, published 1903) contains this text:

"Recently the Maine legislature has passed a bill forbidding the shooting of porcupines, on the curious ground that he is the only wild animal that can easily be caught and killed without a gun; so that a man lost in the woods need not starve to death but may feed on porcupine, as the Indians sometimes do."

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I contacted the Maine Law and Legislative Reference Library, a non-partisan office of the Maine Legislature.

They replied:

As to a Maine law or bill prior to 1903 to forbid the killing of porcupines, we were not able to locate such a bill or law in this regard. In that time period, a bounty on porcupines was placed, then repealed by the Legislature.

The 1903 Legislature passed "An Act to establish a bounty on Porcupines, so called, for the better Protection of Timber Land" PL 1903 c. 239: https://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/Laws/1903/1903_PL_c239.pdf

The 1905 Legislature repealed this law with PL 1905 c. 8: https://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/Laws/1905/1905_PL_c008.pdf

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Given no legislative record on a ban on porcupine shooting, and since the opposite is true (a bounty placed on shooting porcupines), I suggest to remove the sentence referenced above. Mvgnyc (talk) 02:25, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]