Any one have any experience with getting rid of porcupines? I have at least one of them digging under my concrete back patio.

I fill up the hole with rocks and dirt but that doesnt stop them. I saw a product on the internet called Shake Away which is powdered fox urine, but I have doubts that it will work.

Ideas appreciated.

Moth balls? If not try cayenne pepper.

Well, that's a new one on me. I have never ***knock on wood*** had problems with porcupines, never even seen one. I guess you're not getting too many replies as your problem is unique.

Did you search the internet for solutions?

Fox urine might work, then again your own urine might work just as well, depends on how musky you can make it (if you are wondering how to make your urine 'musky', drink and eat pungent smelling items - strong coffee, peppers, strong tea, herbs like rosemary, saffron, cumin, oregano, and other meat, red meat especially, but fish also works).
Then liberally douse it with some capuscin (basically, chile pepper oil - use any type, tobasco sauce is great, but there are a great deal of varieties).

You can even make your own if you grow peppers, collect the seeds, boil them, and mash them up nice and fine, then boil them again for another twenty minutes in some olive oil or high grade vegetable oil, basically making an extract of the heat from the peppers, intensifying it by about ten to twentyfold depending on how long you let it boil and how much oil you use (about one tbs for every ten seeds is average for mild peppers, 2 tbs for every ten for hot peppers). After boiling, put in a container with one to three cups of fresh oil for keeping, use a strainer to catch the seeds. For decoration, add a whole pepper of the variety used to make the extract (it also reminds you of the strength of the oil when you do this). Keep it out of the sun in a pantry or mildly cool spot and it will stay good for about 6 to 8 months, keep it in the fridge and it will last about 2 years (generally needs to thaw a little between uses as the fridge makes the oil solidify).

After making the pepper mix, grab a can, use it a thunderbucket after drinking ungodly drinks (all those things on the bar menu you swore you would never try). Just remember, it's only for urine, nothing else. Add about a cup of the pepper mix, if you have any other harsh herbs, might want to mix them - porcupines are like deer and other mammals, they will avoid certain plants due to smell and taste, the primary reason is because they are unable to tolerate them physically. Bee Balm works wonders, as does Trillium, Lemon Balm works with Porcupines (not deer), Saffron, Cumin, and other Eastern herbs also tend to work (allspice and Chinese Five Spice - no need to be liberal about there use, just a pinch or dash is needed). Of course, you may want to be wearing a mask at the same time, because with all the spices, it is going to be a pungent mix. Once you have everything mixed, you can either use ladle it directly from the bucket or try to pour it into a sprayer and use spray around the hole (or holes). If you have animals, they will avoid the area just as much as the Porcupine (if they don't already, because porcupines mark their areas like most other critters), and if you have any left over, you can mark an area to keep the deer away.

About the only thing to worry about is a heavy rain within a couple days. If that occurs, you may need to reapply. Other than that, you should not have much problem, it's oil (olive or vegetable) base, so it will last most of the season. Winter will definitely remove it, as will most of the other elements. But it will last longer than a powder and water based items. And since it's natural (olive oil, vegetable oil), it's not a detriment to the surrounding environment. If you do not wish to use your urine, go with the fox urine, but I would still employ the pepper mix.

they love salt, do you have any salt/mineral blocks out? is there something buried with salt where it's digging?

or even work gloves that could contain salt from sweating?

You need to figure out what is ATTRACTING this guy before you worry about DETRACTING it.

Use a repellent with thiram as an active ingredient to deter the small animals from returning. Sprinkle it around the yard.

and of course, you can call the CO DOW and talk with them. They would be considered the REAL experts here.

Just read something that reminded about garlic being used to prevent garden pests (mammalian). Make sure to crush it or mince it to intensify the smell. Works for deer, squirrels, moles, voles, rabbits, rats, mice, just about any four legged critter you have (won't guarantee it will work on any of the two legged variety).

I also recommend following up on Wily Fox's idea of contacting the CDOW. They normally have tips and links posted on their website for dealing with a variety of garden pests. If not, they have a phone number. You can also contact the CSU master gardener program for some suggestions.

Well, thanks so much to all for your suggestions. I definitely have some work to do. I will let you know if any of these actually work.

However, after reading all these ideas to my wife, she vetoed the idea of furnishing my urine to the area. She can be very narrow-minded sometimes! :) The patio is near our bedroom so maybe ....?

Actually, I should admit that I have never seen a porcupine but I know they tend to be nocturnal and like digging around concrete and rocks and they eat some shrubbery and tree bark. They also are scared of foxes. They are eager diggers, it seems, too. If you read someday that some guy got quilled in the face in his backyard, you can say "Hey, I know that guy...poor thing".

Lemme ask, first off, are you absolutely sure it is a porcupine? They normally nest in trees but also dens in hollow trees, logs, or stumps, in addition to caves, rock crevices, burrows, or snowbanks. Just wanted to make sure if you have spied the critter or not.

In deference to your wife (believe it or not, your urine does not smell all that bad compared to a porcupine's, but hey), use garlic. Fresh is best, but powdered will most likely work. A good addition of peppers should help, but may not be necessary, simple concentrated garlic may be good enough.

Porcupines may have an aversion to foxes, but I would not say they have a fear of them. There is a reason for those quills, and natural defense mechanisms have proven more reliable than most anything we've developed during our centuries of killing one another off, one of the reasons we tend to mimic animals during our military tactics (tortoise shell shield wall, porcupine shield wall, 'bullhorn maneuver', the charge, etc).

Of course you can always contact animal control and have them trap it and remove it for you. It will give you some relief, until the critter returns to what it considers to be it's territory. All mammals are territorial, this one has decided on it's territory. Animal control will only remove it to an area they believe is safe (about 2 miles), not an area where it will make a new territory (have no clue why). So the idea is to either make it move to new territory willingly or unwillingly.

The first involves making it's habitat unappealingly, which involves introducing a superior mammal that it is unwilling to fight. The second involves trapping it and moving outside of it's territorial range (about ten to twenty miles as the crow flies).

However, if the animal is having there to have a baby, it's most likely made a nice little nest for itself and the kid, which will only take about 214 days, plus an additional 2 weeks for the baby to grow up enough to leave home (they are fast learners and quick leavers). After the birth, you can most likely get rid of the porcupine easier, prior to the birth, I wouldn't count on it going anywhere, no matter what you do, mammals tend to be obstinate when it comes to giving birth. They tend to choose a place and stick with it, leaving only after everything has been taken care of in the way of delivery and rearing the young one. Of course, I would not attempt a gynecological exam on a wild animal if I were you, unless you really want a face full of quills.

Try the garlic and peppers, if that doesn't work, wait about 200 plus days, the porcupine plus 1, should then be moving on (you would have to begin the count from when it first arrived, not from today obviously).