“No matter the species, toddler tantrums are all the same.”
Earlier this month, staff at Austin Wildlife Rescue welcomed a rather unusual new patient — a baby porcupine found wandering in a daze behind a woman’s home in Texas. The little one was struggling with a respiratory infection and mange, but with some treatment and care, she bounced back quickly.
And soon, she was acting as if she owned the place.
“She’s basically running the facility now,” rescuers laughed.
But while she may be small, her leadership style leans more toward bossy toddler than gentle supervisor. During a routine cleaning of her enclosure, staff tried placing her in a temporary “time-out” spot. She was not impressed.
“No matter the species, toddler tantrums are all the same,” the team shared. “She was throwing the ultimate fit — stomping around our office, grumbling at us for disrupting her day. Even free roaming wasn’t good enough for her. She wanted mischief, not rules.”
It was the kind of display only a baby porcupine could pull off: all attitude, all drama, and just prickly enough to prove her point.
According to Kathryn Mattison, operations manager at Austin Wildlife Rescue, it was classic behavior.
“As soon as her crate was clean and ready, she calmed right down,” Mattison explained. “She wasn’t even that interested in the crate itself — she just wanted things her way.”
This year, the rescue expects to admit over 10,000 injured or orphaned animals, each with the same goal: recovery and release back into the wild. And with her spirited personality and growing strength, the dramatic little porcupine is right on track.
“We have very high hopes for her,” Mattison said. “She’ll be with us for several more months as she grows and learns how to be a porcupine. One day, she’ll head back into the wild — where she’ll get to run the show for real.”