WHAT DO PORCUPINES EAT? It is used for a variety of applications ranging from outdoor decking to utility poles, from railroad ties to playground equipment. Porcupines often prefer to live in coniferous forests, but sometimes wander to lower elevation riparian areas and wooded uplands. Over 70 years ago, Dr. Karl Wolman invented the process of infusingpreservative deeply into wood products. They like the paddles and tool handles because of the salt that is there from human sweat. The following is a list of common outdoor structures that may contain treated wood: Decks; Gazebos; Playground equipment; Fences; Walkways; Boat docks ; Chromated Copper Arsenate and Arsenic Poisoning. Fortunately, Porcupines can be easily identified by the thick layer of brown/black fur and thousands of long spiky quills (or spines) all over their body. Over time, chromated copper … Porcupines love rose bushes, pansies, lily pads, all types of berries, corn, and several other garden favorites. Boat docks, aquarium stands, and indoor pools are a few more examples. How do you stop a porcupine from eating the siding and wood off of your house? To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you. Rabbits and deer are often blamed for this damage when many times it is being done by porcupines. Since they are mostly nocturnal, they are able to go … Pressure treated wood is wood that has undergone a process to make it more durable so that it is not susceptible to water, rot, termites, or fungus. Soil contains moisture and fungi that rot wood. While pressure-treated wood is twice or even three times more expensive than conventional kiln-dried lumber, your gain is the peace of mind in knowing that your project will not be affected by moisture or pests such as termites or carpenter ants. Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. In the daytime at the tops of trees, (not dead trees like woodpeckers do), they'll eat the bark and sometimes will "clearcut" some of the trees. 25 May, 2011 what do animals eat. Other products that are on the do-not-burn list are plywood, particleboard, chipboard and painted or finished wood. Log in, http://www.bugspraycart.com/repellents/liquid/ropel-liquid, http://www.bugspraycart.com/repellents/liquid/4-the-birds, http://www.bugspraycart.com/exempt/liquid/pest-rid-exempt-liquid-repellent, http://www.bugspray.com/articles99/porcupines.html. that allow treated wood waste to be handled with alternative management standards are due to expire after December 31, 2020. Pressure-treated wood is infused with chemical preservatives to help protect the material against rotting and insects. In general, carpenter ants do not eat any type of wood, they are not like termites. Do Porcupines Dig Up Lawns? Costly repair and a pain in the backside. The results are that four of the common active ingredients in these cleaners do in fact draw out significant quantities of chromium. Do termites eat pressure treated wood? They attract rumor and tabloid-style coverage, most of it myth. So really the question is what you’re comfortable trying. Pressure treated wood is more suitable for outdoors than indoors. Anytime you build with wood, pressure-treated or not, do not allow wood to make direct contact with soil. Today, a giant industry has grown uparound his quest to invent a wood that can last forever.Pressure treating is a Photo by Education Specialist/Flickr through a Creative Commons license. Ingestion of wood dust can cause permanent damage to the stomach, digestive tract, intestines, liver, and kidneys. Porcupines are large, slow rodents with sharp needles on their backs. These are termites and carpenter ants that can destroy your furnished house with wood. Pressure treated wood is commonly used in residential areas; however, as of December 2003, CCA treated wood is no longer available for consumer use. Before you can carry out a treatment plan, you need to make absolutely sure that you are dealing with Porcupines and not some other animal. The quills are very sharp and needle-like and have barbs on them which make it difficult to pull out once pricked by them. Porcupines eat the tender layer of wood beneath bark, causing severe damage to trees and sometimes even killing the large plants. Then, I began to … Yummy! Porcupines have trouble climbing this flimsy barrier because they’re too heavy. If you’re concerned about damage when you leave your cottage unattended (say, over the winter), one option is to surround your buildings with a perimeter of unsupported chicken wire. What Do Porcupines Eat; What Do Porcupines Eat. The leaking chemical preservative may not be good for indoors but outdoor wood should be protected using pressure treatment. Join Date: Dec 2007. Other options may work—distracting the porcupines with a salt lick, or startling them with random, irritating noises—but there are drawbacks: The salt lick could attract other wildlife; the random, irritating noises could drive away your cottage guests. This wood is often found in parts of the home that come into contact with the earth, such as decks, exterior basement walls, fence posts and many outdoor structures. Pressure-treated wood is the wood that’s treated with the chemical preservatives forced into the pores of the wood. Porcupines like salt and they often like to chew on canoe paddles, wooden tool handles, and plywood as well. The saw dust from the wood that is pressure treated can be an irritant to eyes, skin, and nose. Pressure-treated wood should not be burned except by professionals. Treated wood is nothing but wood treated with chemicals in order to lengthen its normal life cycle. It has eaten two feet up the sides and the damage is bad. Tuesday, August 14, 2018. The active ingredients commonly used in treated wood are alkaline copper quaternary (ACQ), copper azole (CA) or micronized copper azole (MCA). Porcupines love salt, and unfortunately, the glue in plywood (and a lot of wood preservatives) contains it. Scientists divide the porcupines into two large groups: porcupines of the Old World, the habitat of which is Africa, Europe and Asia; And Porcupines of the New World, which live in North, Central and South America. Worth mentioning in another product we’ve had great results with called PEST RID. I know that porcupines are kind of like over-exposed celebrities. Unfortunately for homeowners, porcupines are notorious for digging up lawns while on the hunt for food. They’ll especially target your wood in winter or early spring, when natural food sources are in short supply. (They should probably lay off the salt.). Do Termites Eat Pressure-Treated Wood? Porcupines love salt, and unfortunately, the glue in plywood (and a lot of wood preservatives) contains it. When we did heavy marine construction, every load of wood we got had a disclaimer that had to be signed before it came off the truck. It can create resistance against decay or wood-eating pests or insects. I am building a screened in room in florida and was going to build a 3 block high wall as the base, then PT wood the rest of the way up. It looks like T1-11 but the porcupines do not like it. 4. ^ Because porcupines primarily target wood, most people are unaware how much they like succulent plants. I’m serious. Some dog owners can probably attest to this. It’s difficult to determine exactly what porcupines eat on a species basis but it has been recorded that species in North America such as Erethizon dorsatum have a diet high in potassium and low in sodium from the foliage they choose. It’s a natural repellent that works via taste and smell and we’re getting very good results with it for … Termites live in soil and move through soil looking for embedded wood to feed on. Yummy! Along with wooden buildings, porkies also enjoy the salt in fence posts coated in creosote, on car tires and radiator hoses, and from objects covered in human sweat (tool handles, clothes, and leather). … Because they eat them. And porcupines crave it, just as we humans crave potato chips and roasted peanuts. Building code requires pressure-treated wood in numerous applications. Due to their heavy bodies and short legs, porcupines cannot easily navigate deep snow, therefore wintertime adds extra pressure on this strict plant eater to find … The porcupine is a large, spiny rodent that can be found in the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are not common in the Verde Valley, but they are here. Porcupines really do frequent backwoods outhouses. They are well known for their coat of sharp spines or quills. A porcupine’s yen for salt kicks in as they transition from a winter to a spring diet. Cottagelife.com is part of the Blue Ant Media Canada network © 2020 Blue Ant Media. Depending on the season, porcupines eat a wide range of vegetation including bark, needles, leaves and the reproductive and readily eaten vegetative parts of woody plants, including nuts, seeds, fruits, and buds (these are considered mast). Do you know what kind of pests eats or destroy wood? Porcupines can be brown, black or, in unusual cases, white. That being said, there is no doubt wood treated with it will stop the porcupines from chewing. And this applies in particular to wood used outdoors, where the elements and insects have full access to the wood. Along with wooden buildings, porkies also enjoy the salt in fence posts coated in creosote, on car tires and radiator hoses, and from objects covered in human sweat (tool handles, clothes, and leather). Yes, but only in an outdoor and wet environment after years of exposure. Wood that is treated under pressure with chemicals to resist rot is also required to be termite resistant—but it is not permanently termite-proof. Thread Starter. Indoor wood being more in contact with humans and pets, it’s better to leave such wood untreated. Any wood, pressure-treated or not, that is directly in contact with soil will eventually rot and become susceptible to termite and carpenter ant attack. Most paints, stains, and wood glues contain salt. They are commonly found everywhere. It is treated with a combination of chromium, copper, and arsenic. They chew and try to eat everything! Thread Tools Search this Thread #1 12-13-07, 08:11 AM J. joevdenne. Thus, wolmanized or treated wood may also be referred to as CCA treated wood. Our cabin was sheathed with T1-11 which we found out that they just love to eat. Note: The statute (HSC 25150.7) and regulations (22 CCR 67386.1 et seq.) It’s not easy. Porcupines are somewhat deadly to trees, they like to climb them in the daytime and forage at night. They are the third largest rodent on the earth after the capybara and the beaver. They studied what might possibly be drawn out of pressure treated wood by our modern deck cleaners and restorers -- harsh chemicals that eat into the wood and give us such a nice fresh look to the deck. By submitting your information via this form, you agree to receive electronic communications from Cottage Life Media, a division of Blue Ant Media Solutions Inc., containing news, updates and promotions regarding cottage living and Cottage Life's products. A porcupine outside is not a cause for concern unless you notice it is after the trees on your property or the pet food on your porch. They’ll especially target your wood in winter or early spring, when … The lumber sold at Lowe's, etc was treated at .40 - ours was 2.0 and dripping with stuff that would eat … Posts: 4 Received 0 Votes on 0 Posts Do termites eat pressure treated wood? If that wasn’t enough, the q… They live on every continent, except for Antarctica. The old style pressure treated wood does contain some nasty ingredients (copper, arsenic and chromates) but very minimal absorption of these components takes place when ingested because of the way they are bound together. Any of these (or a combination of all of them) can reduce wood from useful building material to rotten garbage in as little as a year in certain extreme cases. If you prefer to not alter the look of the wood, start with the Ropel. Member. We ended up re-sheathing the entire lower portion of the cabin with a textured OSB panel. These pressure treated timbers last a VERY long time. Porcupines enjoy digging up lawns to find any type of food source. Though the ingestion of pressure-treated wood dust is rare, and the ingestion of the chemicals in large enough doses rarer still, it is important to never eat, smoke, drink or consume any products in the areas surrounding a working project. Keep all pet food picked up even when inside. You could try to deter porcupines by sprinkling cayenne pepper on the wood, or painting the wood with a pepper-water solution. Our cabin is in the middle of the woods and is usually just used on weekends. Updated: January 27, 2020, How do you stop porcupines from eating plywood buildings?—Craig Loucao. Treated lumber (old style) does cause cancer. Do termites eat pressure treated wood? Here are a few tips when building a pressure treated timber retaining wall. Treated wood is found in many places on a farm because over time it holds up to weather elements and prevents damage from insects remarkably well. What does this mean for you? They don’t eat wood for the simple reason that they can’t digest cellulose, but they can still damage it. A porcupine finds a salty snack = urine + plywood. And many species of insects live in or even eat wood. You may withdraw your consent at any time. Pressure-treated wood has gone through a process that uses high pressure to force a solution of water and preservative agents deep into the lumber to help extend its useful lifespan. Do in fact draw out significant quantities of chromium the Blue Ant Media humans and pets, ’... 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