Porcupine Performance Pleases Post

You know those couples – the ones that have you wondering if it's going to work out? Well, it was sort of like that with our porcupines Thistle and Honeysuckle, until one day last summer, when we discovered they had a porcupine "pup" (that's the technical term) last summer.

And that pup made her first public appearance last week at an elementary school in Virginia, and was featured in The Washington Post.

The porcupine was named Magnolia in a contest won by third-grader Leo Higbie, 9, of Purcellville, Va. The winner was announced during a surprise special assembly with the porcupine and 400 students at Emerick Elementary School in Purcellville on Nov. 24.

Magnolia’s mother, Honeysuckle, came to the High Desert Museum last year because she was too shy to leave her cage in front of big crowds during school programs offered by Wildlife Ambassadors of Paeonian Springs, Va. Becky Shore, executive director of that nonprofit, sent her to the High Desert Museum with the understanding that any of Honeysuckle’s offspring would go to Wildlife Ambassadors.

Shore didn’t know how Magnolia would behave in her first public appearance. According to the Post article, Shore was relieved when Magnolia walked across a table and started sniffing and chewing on antlers Shore brought as part of the show-and-tell assembly. Magnolia returned to her cage, and nibbled on an apple. The kids cheered collectively. Then in unison, they said, "Bye, Magnolia."

Visitors can meet Magnolia’s parents, Thistle and Honeysuckle, daily at the Museum. Like all of the wild animals at the Museum, the porcupines are here because they cannot survive in the wild.