Creature

"Hey, stop!  There's something in that tree.  A porcupine, I think."

I hit the brakes and put the car in reverse until I was even with the large brown creature in the Walnut tree.

Creature.  A friend of mine in my last job used the moniker as a go-to was "Creature."

"Hey, Creature," he'd say, "how ya doin' today?"

"Creature, are you going to the game tonight?"

Here, maybe 25 - 30 feet away a large porcupine sat on the branch munching on a leaf.

I got out of the car to get in good position to take the photo.  It wasn't too far from the car and much further from the prickly mammal than the door.

I was pretty sure I could get safely inside the car before it reached the ground, but it wasn't moving.

Maybe it was used to camera toting visitors, as he ate one leaf then another.

Just close enough for me to see what he brought to the table in terms of weaponry, I don't think there is much to worry a porcupine in terms of predators.

Some of us take on the traits of porcupines occasionally - bristling a negative energy to keep others away.  Or we brush painful needles under the skin creating a deep and long-lasting pain.

If you enter their area, defer and respect are the order of the day.  If we sense others acting that way around us - it could mean we should put those needles away.