May 3, 2026

"Porcupines used to be confined to the forests but with deforestation, they’ve moved out into saffron farms looking for food."

"Saffron corms are highly nutritious and porcupines love them. Since they destroy the crop at night, farmers can’t do a thing."

Said Mir Hasan Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, quoted in "How porcupine ‘terror’ is devastating Kashmir’s saffron harvest/Authorities have set up a ‘situation room’ in the quest to stop the rodents raiding crops of ‘red gold’ , devastating farmers’ livelihoods" (London Times).

19 comments:

rehajm said...

They’re just mad about saffron. Quite rightly…

Jim said...

I’m just mad about saffron, she’s just mad about me.

Whiskeybum said...

That’s quite a crop to lose to these varmints, being the most expensive spice, typically costing $3k-14k per kilo.

Original Mike said...

Porcupines are a menace. I met a backpacker who had all the leather straps on her pack chewed off by a porky. I had one chew a hole in my backpacking tent while I was in it; it was after my boots. I was sitting on a boulder one day and looked down to see one trying to gnaw on my boots while I was wearing them! I kicked that one as hard as I could.

Jim said...

Rehajm: Epstein’s mad about 14. Or so I’ve heard.

Aggie said...

I didn't know that saffron is harvested from the flower of a crocus. Also:

"Although Iran is the world’s leading producer of saffron, accounting for about 85 per cent of global production, Kashmiri saffron is the most highly prized. ..."

Archived here: https://archive.ph/OfkCG#selection-1989.0-1993.144

john mosby said...

"Since they destroy the crop at night, farmers can’t do a thing."

Kind of a non sequitur, no? Farming is a 24/7 job.

Guess you can't force English civilization on people. CC, JSM

R C Belaire said...

I've live-trapped many porcupines, and one time upon release the varmint charged me. Fortunately I had a ... weapon ... with me and won that round.

john mosby said...

Oh, porcupine hordes who leave no trace
Like thoughts inside a dream.
Heed the path that led me to that place
Lith yellow saffron stream.
Like Shangri-La beneath the summer moon,
They will return again.
Sure as the porkies that devour my blooms,
When movin' through Kashmir.
CC, JSM

Iman said...

She's a porcupine
She's a porcupine
Not your cuddly kind
Not the least refined
She's a porcupine
Save your Valentine
Cuz she’s mine all mine

Iman said...

Porcupine Love
It’s a sticky wicket

Original Mike said...

""Since they destroy the crop at night, farmers can’t do a thing."

They could deploy those robot dogs.

Rabel said...

"Porcupine Meat is Easy to Cook

The best way to get all the precious fat and nutrients from a porcupine is to keep the skin on and roast them whole, similar to how you would prepare a whole pig."

narciso said...

Good name for a band

Bob Boyd said...

Killing a porcupine is against the Code of the West. I don't know about the east.

john mosby said...

Yes, I saw Saffron-Eating Porcupines at the Vic in 1977. They opened for The Jam. CC, JSM

Fritz said...

During my stay in Oregon, my family owned a large piece of timber land in Douglas County. They had a bounty on porcupines. My younger brother used to collect noses for the $5 bounty. At some point he noticed the county clerks who paid the bounty weren’t too fussy, and he took to cutting the noses in half’s and even thirds to boost his take.

I’m pretty sure the statue of limitations has passed on that fraud, and anyway, he died a few years ago.

Fritz said...

Porcupines have a fine red meat, but skinning them is a bitch.

Biotrekker said...

I'm one of those peopel who find saffron utterly disgusting, so a shrug from me.

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