Alta Ski Area is a popular winter destination for hitting the slopes. Humans aren’t the only ones using the powdery snow and enjoying the beautiful scenery. The ski resort has several “resident porcupines.” The spiky little critters are around often enough that staff have given them names. Canoodles had an interesting encounter with a young skier.
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Running into wild animals on ski slopes is not new. Skiers in Jackson Hole raced a moose down the slopes. Some animals are oddly named critters with unknown origins, such as the “stuck-a=saurus.”
Getting back to the resident porcupines at Alta Ski Area. Canoodles is the curious leg-sniffer. The young boy was slightly frightened, but his dad handled this teaching moment perfectly. He explained that the animal was just curious. When the boy asked if he could pet the cute little critter, Dad explained quills just as the boy noticed the “spikes.”
The porcupines at Alta Ski Area are not tame. There have been a couple of instances where they have become attached to a skier. That’s a nice way to say the pokey little dude bit the skier. There was no permanent damage because ski pants are pretty thick. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen too often. Mostly, the animals are just curious.
The staff at Alta have a sense of humor. On April 1, 2024, they posted a new program. Proposing to utilize the resident porcupines as an avalanche mitigation team, they would replace the current team of avalanche rescue dogs. The creative team used a photo editor to add little service animal vests and leashes to the adorable porcupines.
Sadly, it was just an April Fool’s joke. Ski patrol porcupines would be awesome!
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