2024 marks our 40th year in business, and in the next few posts I’d like to reflect on some of the jobs that have made the past four decades truly special to me.
Around 30 years ago, we learned of an intriguing situation where local dogs were unexpectedly encountering porcupine quills right in their own backyard. The perplexing question arose: how did a porcupine find its way into downtown Toronto? The answer, though unusual, is quite logical. A homeowner had ordered a shipment of wood for their fireplace but specifically requested a whole tree to be delivered so they could cut it themselves. Unbeknownst to the firewood company, the tree was not just any tree; it was around 100 years old and hollow. Inside this potential firewood, there was an unwitting hitchhiker. Upon reaching its new destination, the porcupine would venture out of the hollow tree at dusk to forage and return by morning. Upon our arrival, we safely apprehended the unexpected passenger without incident and returned it to the forest where it originally came from.
![porcupine in downtown Toronto](https://gateswildlifecontrol.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/You_Doodle_2024-01-15T15_18_24Z-1-1024x686.jpg)