Secrets: The Truth is Slowly Revealed

When we returned to the hohrahn, I anxiously awaited for the shaman to begin instructing us how to transition into a porcupine. 

“As you have probably suspected,” the shaman began, “I have saved the most difficult animal for you to transition into until last, and since Devin has admitted that he has not been able to do it successfully, I will work with him as well.”

“Aren’t porcupines just another rodent?” I asked Devin.  “So, what makes it more difficult to transition into than either a beaver or an opossum?”

“It’s the damn quills,” Devin replied.  “Even though my dad told me they were just thick hairs, I was never able to duplicate them correctly and they wouldn’t stand up like they were supposed to.  They just lay on my back like regular fur and were nothing like the quills on my dad’s back when he transitioned into a porcupine to show me what they were supposed to look like.  My dad also said there weren’t any barbs on the ends my lazy quills either, so after trying to do it a great many times, I just got frustrated and gave up.”

“I believe I understand the problem you were having,” the shaman commented.  “The quills on a porcupine are hairs, as your father said, but they are unlike any hairs you are familiar with, because the quills are hollow.  If you’d thought of them as being more closely related to the shaft of a feather instead, then I believe you would have done much better.”

“But how are hairs hollow?” Devin pressed.

“Most are not hollow, but when they are on a porcupine they are not only hollow, they are stiffer as well.  In addition to those qualities, they also have barbs on the tip of each of those hairs, or more correctly quills, and it not only ensures it will penetrate the skin or hide of the attacker, but it will also remain there.”

“Does this mean the porcupine doesn’t have any predators because they can’t get past the quills?” I asked.

“No, they still have predators and the attacker will grab the porcupine by the head where there are no quills and then roll it onto its back.  Once they do that, they will attack the soft, unprotected underbelly of the porcupine, and that is how they kill it.” 

“That’s not good for the porcupine, but it saves the predator from getting stuck by a bunch of the quills.”

“Oh, it does not mean the attacker gets away without making any mistakes and ending up with at least a few of the quills embedded in its hide.  It may even end up with even more than just a few quills embedded in its hide before it is done, because the porcupine is not about to remain still and allow its attacker to flip it over without a fight.”

“Ok, that makes sense, so do porcupines live on the ground?”

“You may want more information than I am able to give you, so I am going to ask Isaac or Jacob to take over from here, if they are willing,” the shaman responded.  He then turned and looked over at Gramps and Pops to see who was going to volunteer. 

“I’m willing to help out and answer this question for Mac,” Pops offered.  “A porcupine may live on the ground and they will take up residence in a hollow tree trunk or an abandoned burrow, but they are also capable of climbing trees and will spend much of their time up in the branches.”

“Then they must be able to see really well if they’re able to do that in the dark?”

“Actually, they don’t have very good vision at all, but they do have marvelous senses of smell and balance, as well as long claws that help them cling to the branches.”

“Can they also swim?”

“No, but the hollow quills will keep them afloat so they won’t drown.”

“I guess it must be like they have their own life jacket then.”

“Yes, it’s something like that,” Pops agreed. 

“Do all porcupines look alike?”

“No, there are many different species of porcupine.  In the western hemisphere there are 12 different species of porcupine, and the eastern hemisphere has 11 completely different species.” 

“And we are going to concentrate on the North American porcupine that is the most common,” the shaman chimed in.

“I think that’s probably the same one my dad tried to teach me how to transition into,” Devin said. 

 “Yes, I believe it is,” Gramps replied, “since it’s the one your grandfather and I taught him to transition into. 

“We will have to work quickly, though,” the shaman added, “if we are going to complete this process by tomorrow night.  I will now ask Isaac and Jacob for their assistance once again and have them transition into porcupines so you can examine them thoroughly.  Just be very careful while you are dong it so you do not accidentally get impaled by one of the quills.”

“We will,” Devin and I both agreed. 

After Gramps and Pops had transitioned into porcupines, Devin and I began to visually examine them, but unlike what we’d done with the other animals, this time there was no tactile exploration.  However, I did have a few questions that I wanted the shaman to answer.

“Will the quills detach from the porcupine’s body?”

“Of course they will.  They are just hairs and can fall out or be pulled out just like any other hairs.  The only difference is that these hairs might get stuck in something, such as a paw, a nose, a mouth, or whichever body part comes into contact with a quill or quills.” 

“Do the quills grow back then?”

“Of course they do, but it takes time and does not happen overnight.  Just like the hairs on your body will grow back, so will the quills, but it may take longer for it to happen, since they are more complicated to reproduce.”

“Are baby porcupines born with quills?”

“Yes, they are, but they are born with soft quills that only get hard when they are exposed to the air for a while first.” 

“That’s good for the mother porcupine, since she doesn’t lay eggs and gives birth to live young.”

Yes it is, and you should also know that baby porcupines are called porcupettes.”

“Awww, that’s cute.”

The shaman merely looked at me oddly after I made this comment, but after a brief hesitation he finally spoke again. 

“Since we did not get started on the porcupine until after midday, it is now time for supper.  I am sure you are all hungry, so after Isaac and Jacob transition into their human forms again, I think the four of you should go get something to eat.  When you return, I will have the two of you make your first attempt at transitioning into a porcupine.” 

“Aren’t you going with us?”

“No, I will remain here and prepare my normal meal.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I will be fine, so go get something to eat.” 

I wanted to pursue my questions about the porcupine further, but since I was hungry, I put my questions aside as Gramps and Pops got dressed and we prepared to leave. 

“I really want to see how much the haatali is going to have us do when we get back, so we’d better eat quickly,” I suggested. 

“There’s no need to rush for that,” Gramps stated.  “The haatali won’t start without you, so just take your time so you don’t choke or get indigestion.”

We did as Gramps recommended, and when we finished we headed back to the hohrahn.  When we got there, the shaman suggested that we all get undressed and then Gramps and Pops transitioned so Devin and I could inspect what they looked like one more time.  As I was studying the quills again, I turned to the shaman so I could ask a question.

“Would it hurt Pops if I pulled out one of the quills?”

“It will not hurt him or you if you are very careful.  Merely select a quill that is at the outer edge and then grab it at the base before you pull it out.  Just be certain to avoid the barbed tip.”

I pulled one out and examined it carefully, and I noticed Devin was doing the same thing with a quill he had plucked from Gramps.  The quill was lighter and nothing like what I expected, and I held it up to see if I could tell if it was truly hollow before I looked at the barb. 

“It’s really hard to see much and I can’t tell what the barb looks like,” I told the shaman. 

“Yes, it is, so let me get something that may help you,” he said, and then he went to retrieve an item for me to use.  When he returned, he handed me a magnifying glass. 

“Yeah, this is a lot better,” I agreed as Devin and I inspected the tip of the quill together.

“Where’s the barb?” Devin asked.  “I thought it would look like an arrow head, but I don’t see anything like that.” 

“And I thought it would look like the tip of a harpoon,” I added, “but I don’t see anything like that either.” 

“If you look closely at the top fraction of an inch of the quill,” the shaman replied, “about 4 millimeters near the tip, you will notice the quill contains several hundred barbs.”

“Do you mean those things that appear to be scales?”

“Yes, but they open up once they enter the skin and it’s very difficult to get them to come out again unless you cut them free,” the shaman replied.

“Oh, so the scales are kind of like the spokes on a tiny umbrella and they open up when they get stuck on something.”

“Yes, I suppose that’s one way of describing them.”

“Damn, how many quills does a porcupine have?” Devin followed.

“I am not sure I have an answer for that question,” the shaman stated, and then Pops quickly transition into his human form again.

“Somewhere around 30,000,” he quickly stated, “and they require less than half of the force to penetrate the skin than it takes to insert a hypodermic needle into your arm.”

“Damn, that’s scary.  Is it true that porcupines can throw their quills at an enemy?”

“No, that is completely false.”

“Good, I’m glad they can’t do that, because I wouldn’t want one to throw its quills at me.”   

“Will a porcupine fight back or run away if they’re attacked?” I asked next.

“They will do neither.  A porcupine is a defensive animal and it will curl up in a ball with only its snout and quills exposed to the predator.  They’re also very slow animals, and although their feet are good for climbing, they’re not very good for running or even walking, so they wouldn’t be able to run away from a predator.  Do you have any more questions?” he asked.”

“No, I’m good.”

As soon as I said this, Pops transitioned back into a porcupine.  I then tried to look at the feet on the porcupine, as well as what the rest of the porcupine’s body looked like, as Devin did the same with Gramps.  I also studied the quills briefly so I could see how they were arranged on the porcupine’s back, and I actually did these things for over an hour.  I was taking my time so I would get it right, and I kept at it until I finally felt I was prepared to give it a try. 

“Ok, I think I’m ready to transition into a porcupine now,” I announced.

“Yeah, me too,” Devin concurred. 

“Ok, but I want you to picture every area on the porcupine’s body in your mind first and visualize exactly what you want to accomplish,” the shaman suggested, “and then you may make your initial attempt.”

Even though I had studied Gramps and Pops very carefully, I soon discovered that transitioning into a porcupine proved to be more difficult than I anticipated.  Fortunately, the shaman was patient and explained what Devin and I needed to do in order to improve, as well as how to do it. 

“You each have the body of the porcupine down, but both of you need to add more quills.  You have also allowed the barbs to extend too far down the shaft and have to contain them to the top 4-millimeter portion of each quill.”

He then held up a ruler that was divided into metric units on one side so he could show us precisely how much of the tip he was talking about.  This helped, because we’d either forgotten or didn’t realize how small 4 mm was, even though we’d seen the barbs up close.  We both tried to do better, but it was difficult to tell if we were improving, since the quills were on our backs and sides and we couldn’t see how we were doing.  We had to rely on the shaman to let us know if we were improving and what we still had to change in order to replicate the porcupine correctly.  After multiple tries, we finally succeeded. 

“Please remember what you just did, because I am going to ask you to transition into your human forms again and then back into a porcupine again.  You will need to burn this image into your brain so you will get it correct on each future attempt without having to make any corrections.”

Even though we did it correctly on our next attempt, the shaman had us repeat the process several more times before we stopped. 

“I believe this is a good place to end your training for now so you can get some sleep.  You will probably want to transition into your human forms first and then get dressed so your clothes can help to keep you warm while you are sleeping.  We will begin again from this point in the morning.”

We then all bedded down as we’d been doing lately.  Devin and I shared my blankets, the shaman used his blankets, and Gramps and Pops slept as wolves.  And while I was sleeping, I dreamt about what we had done earlier and envisioned what we might be doing next, and this continued until I woke up in the morning.    

“You may eat here today, if you prefer, since I have accumulated enough food for all of us.  It will save you time from making the trip back and forth, and then you will have more time to practice.”

I looked at the others to see what they wanted to do, but they left the decision up to me.

“Ok, we’ll eat here with you this time, but what are we going to do after that?”

“I will tell you after we finish our meal.”

I wanted to press the issue, but I was hungry and didn’t want to distract the shaman from preparing our breakfast.  I also knew that he’d only tell me that I needed to learn patience, so I decided to wait until after I’d filled my belly first, before I started pestering him again. 

Even though I didn’t tell the others, I have to admit that transitioning into a porcupine has been the most difficult task I’ve had to perform yet, so I couldn’t imagine what else I still might have to do.  Didn’t the shaman tell us that he was saving the hardest animals for last, so does this mean that we’ll be done after this, or is there an even more difficult animal for us to transition into?  Maybe Gramps and Pops will know.

“What do you think he’s going to have us do after we finish working on the porcupine?” I asked Gramps and Pops as the shaman was preparing our breakfast. 

“We have no idea,” Pops answered. 

“Although I strongly suspect he’s going to ask you to transition into the porcupine a few more times after we finish eating,” Gramps added.  “He may even allow you to go outside as a porcupine after that, but beyond those things, I have no idea what he might have planned.” 

“But we’ve practiced transitioning into porcupines loads of times already,” I objected.

“We know, but I have a feeling that he’ll want to make sure you didn’t forget all of that while you were sleeping.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Devin agreed. 

“How long have we been on the Navajo reservation?” I followed.

“I’d say either seven or eight weeks so far, although I’ve actually lost count,” Pops replied.

“Yes, I think we’ve been here a week or two short of two months,” Gramps confirmed. 

“That means we’ve still got about four or five weeks left before classes start,” I mused.  “I looked at the academic calendar before we came here and it indicated that we had three months between our last final and the first day of classes for the fall semester.  If he told you that I had to be here for my entire vacation, then it must mean he has more planned for us.” 

“Yes, he told me that you’d need to plan on staying here for your entire summer vacation,” Pops concurred, “but that may have only been an estimate.”  

“But it also may mean there is more I need to learn.”

“That’s a good possibility,” Devin agreed.

As soon as the shaman dished out our food, Devin and I hurried through our meals, since we were eager to see what the shaman had planned for us to do next.  We had to wait for the others, because they didn’t eat as quickly as we had, but as soon as they finished eating, the shaman made it very clear quite quickly. 

“Michael and Devin, I want you to transition into porcupines again.”

“Yeah, we thought maybe you’d have us do that,” we groaned.

He didn’t just have us do it once either.  After he inspected us so we could correct any errors we’d made, he had us do it a few more times before he announced he was satisfied that we had it down pat.  After we transition back into ourselves, we discussed what we’d done, and then Devin made an observation. 

“Even though this was really hard, it was actually easier than when I did it with my dad,” Devin said now that we’d received the shaman’s final approval. 

“You were still quite young when you tried this before and you weren’t nearly as patient when you did it with your dad,” Gramps stated. 

“Yeah, that’s true,” Devin agreed. “I was only fourteen at the time and I kept getting frustrated that I wasn’t able to get the quills correct.”

“Maybe you are finally learning patience,” the shaman said and then grinned.

“What do porcupines eat?” I followed, quickly changing the subject.   

“They will eat twigs, roots, stems, berries, fruit, leaves, seeds, and other vegetation, and they are particularly fond of eating corn on the cob.  In some situations, they may also eat certain insects, but they are primarily vegetarians.”

“The berries, fruit, and corn on the cob sound ok.” Devin stated.

“Yes, they do,” I agreed, “but are we going to go outside so we can see what it’s like to move around as a porcupine?”

“Eventually, but there is one more thing you need to master before you can do that.  I want you to practice the porcupine’s defensive posture of curling up in a ball, in case you are attacked.  If you do it correctly then you will be fairly well protected, but if you do it wrong it might be the last thing you ever do.”

“Then I guess we’d better learn to do it correctly,” I agreed.

Gramps and Pops then demonstrated what a porcupine looked like when in its defensive mode and the shaman pointed out the most important aspects, in case we ever had to do it to survive.  As soon as Devin and I thought we were ready, we made our first attempt. 

The shaman checked us both over and pointed out where we needed to improve, and after we did that, the shaman had us walk around inside the hohrahn briefly before we did it again.  In fact, he had Gramps and Pops transition into wolves and threaten us to make sure we could do it correctly under pressure.  He had us do it that way several more times before he was satisfied, and then I asked what we were going to do next.

“Are we going outside now?”

“You have the choice of eating your supper early or very late this time, and then you may go outside either after or before you eat, depending on which time you would prefer to eat.  I say this because either way you will be able to get a chance to go outside as a porcupine in the daylight and then at dusk before you come inside again.  I will leave the choice up to you”   

“Since it doesn’t start getting dark until around 9:00, that means we wouldn’t be eating until 10:30 or 11:00, and I don’t want to wait that long,” I responded.  “I’m getting hungry already, so we’d better eat now.”

“Do the rest of you agree with his choice?” the shaman asked, and the others replied they did.  “I have got enough food accumulated so we can eat here, so let me fix something for all of us quickly.”

While the shaman was doing that, Gramps and Pops were giving Devin and me warnings about what we should and shouldn’t do when we went out as porcupines.  They let us know that porcupines had a difficult time walking on the ground, so they only planned on leading us over to the juniper tree.   That way we could practice walking on the ground before we climbed the tree, because porcupines are more comfortable and better equipped to be up in the branches. 

Just as they finished telling us this, the shaman announced that our supper was ready, so we walked over to the stove as he was dishing it out.  We then sat down to eat, and when we finished, the shaman spoke to Devin and me again.     

“I am going to allow you to go out for a walk as porcupines, but you will not be able to go very far away from the hohrahn.  That is due to the fact that porcupines walk very slowly when they are on the ground and I think it would be best if you stayed close by, in case something happens.” 

“Gramps and Pops said they wanted to lead us over to the juniper tree so we could climb it.”

“Yes, I suppose that is not to far away, but please be careful.”

“Ok, we can do that.” 

As soon as the four of us had transitioned into porcupines, we walked out of the hohrahn, or should I say we waddled out of it, and started in the direction of the juniper tree.  The shaman’s comment about the porcupine being slow seemed to be a gross understatement, now that I was experiencing it for myself.  I think Devin and I might have been faster than Gramps or Pops though, because I didn’t sense they were close by once we were halfway to our destination. 

Almost as soon as we reached that point, though, I got a strong whiff of something else that I assumed was nearby as well, but I had no idea what it was.   That’s because, as the shaman had stated earlier, the porcupine’s eyesight isn’t very good so I couldn’t clearly see what was out there with us, but I could definitely smell it.  Out of the utmost precaution and since we lacked the ability for either fight or flight, I rolled up in a defensive ball, and I think Devin did the same thing. 

It wasn’t long after we’d done this that I felt a paw try to swat me, and then I heard a yip, which made me believe that one or more of my quills was now stuck in its paw.  I could also feel its breath on my body as it was presumably trying to sniff me, and that is when I heard another yip, but this time it wasn’t from what was hovering over me.  I assumed there must be another of the creatures sniffing Devin as well, and it must have gotten a quill stuck in it as well.  Shortly after that happened, I heard a growl and thought we were really in for it, but a few moments later I heard Pops’ voice. 

“Transition into wolves and head back to the hohrahn,” he ordered. 

We did as he instructed, and once we were inside we all transitioned into our human forms again. 

“What happened out there?” I asked.  “I couldn’t see very much, just that it was something on four legs, but I could definitely smell it.”

“It was the coyotes again,” Pops informed us.  “As soon as we heard one of them yip, Jacob and I transitioned into wolves and then we heard another one yelp.”

“It would appear that they’ve been watching this area and hoping to spot the squirrels again,” Gramps continued, “but they were willing to settle for porcupines instead.”

“I’d be willing to bet they’ve never encountered a porcupine before,” Pops added, “because by the time we transitioned I think two of the coyotes had a quill or two either in its paw or sticking out of its snout.”

“And those coyotes may never have a chance to learn from this encounter,” Gramps followed, “because if the area around where the quills got stuck in them gets infected, then it might well end up killing them.”

“Damn and I hardly felt a thing,” I admitted. 

“Maybe not, but once again you and Devin failed to transition into a larger animal so you could either scare the threat away or fight it off,” Pops pointed out. 

“I didn’t do it because I wasn’t sure what was there,” I admitted.  “I could only smell them, not see them.”

“Yeah, and I couldn’t see them either,” Devin concurred. 

“And obviously neither of you has smelled coyotes often enough to associate the odor with them,” Gramps reasoned, “but you still shouldn’t have taken up a defensive posture so quickly.  You should have transitioned into a bear or a wolf and scared them off.”

“I thought they’d go away after checking us out, but I would have transitioned into a bear if they had done more than just try to swat or sniff me.”

“Ok, as long as you were ready to do that,” Gramps relented.

Since Devin and I agreed that we had our fill of wandering around outside as porcupines, we gave up on the idea of seeing how good they were at climbing trees.  However, before we got dressed I asked the shaman a question.

 “What are we going to do next?”

“If you want, you can always to walk out to the juniper tree as wolves before you transition into porcupines again, and then you can climb for a while.  If you don’t want to do that, we will just turn in and then talk more in the morning. 

“Would it be safe to do what you just suggested and go out as wolves before transitioning into porcupines when we reached the tree?”

“Yes, because Isaac and Jacob can go out with you and remain as wolves so they can keep the coyotes away.”

“And what if someone sees what we’re doing?”

“It will be difficult to tell what is going on at this time of day, since the sun has already begun to set.  I imagine if they see animals walking around out there, they’ll most likely assume it is just dogs, and if they see something climbing the tree, I imagine they will just conclude the dogs scared it up the tree.”

I quickly talked it over with Devin to see what he thought, and then we agreed to give it a try.  The four of us transitioned into wolves and walked out of the hohrahn again, and since it was starting to get dark, we weren’t worried about anyone else seeing what we were doing.  However, we did look around to see if we could locate the coyotes and tell what they were up to and we spotted them about fifty yards away, but they didn’t seem to be in a hurry to mess with us again.

As soon as we reached the juniper tree, both Gramps and Pops began lifting their legs and marking the area with their urine, so Devin and I did the same thing before we transitioned into porcupines again.  However, thanks to the porcupine’s excellent sense of smell we were quickly able to realize how strong the odor of a wolf’s urine was and how bad it smelled. 

In order to distance ourselves from the odor, we climbed the tree as quickly as we could and discovered the porcupine’s claws were definitely better for this purpose than for walking.  We only stayed up in the tree for about a half hour before we climbed down again, and then we immediately transitioned into wolves so we could return to the hohrahn.  Once we were inside, we transitioned into our human forms and I asked the shaman a question. 

“Will you tell us what we’re going to do next?”

“Patience, Grasshopper.  It is a virtue that will serve you well in the future, if you can learn some self-control.  Rather than talk any more, I think it would be best for all of us to go to sleep.”

Since I had just been mildly chastised again, and seeing I wasn’t about to get any additional information from the shaman, I gave in and did as he suggested.  After Devin and I got dressed, we arranged the blankets on the ground, while Gramps and Pops transitioned into coyotes to bed down this time.  I wasn’t sure if this was just their way of taking up even less space in the hohrahn while they were sleeping, or if it was to allow Devin and me a chance to become more familiar with the coyotes’ smell.  No matter why they did this, we all got comfortable and it didn’t take very long before we fell asleep. 

As I dreamed this time, instead of thinking about what I was going to do the following day, my mind replayed the events from earlier in the day.  However, this time I saw what else might have happened if the coyotes had been more familiar with porcupines.  I had to admit that Gramps and Pops were correct when they said that Devin and I have to be ready to transition into more threatening animals when we find ourselves in those types of situations.  It was another time we could have been badly injured or possibly even killed if Gramps and Pops hadn’t been there to protect us, but we knew they wouldn’t always be there, so we’d have to start doing it on our own.  

Sure, Devin had transitioned into larger animals a few times when I found myself in trouble, but I’ve lost count of how many times Gramps and Pops had been there for me when I needed them the most.  I’ll have to pull them aside tomorrow so I can thank them personally for watching over me like a pair of guardian angels.  If it wasn’t for them, I might not be here now.