Field Notes: Porcupines! (Patreon)

Hey Deep Peeps,

Here's our latest behind-the-scenes photo essay! We know that you'll be excited to watch this upcoming April 9th episode from Josh Cassidy, our lead producer and cinematographer. It's all about prickly porcupines, their unique quills and how they've inspired some cool new medical technology.

Meet Penelope, an adorable North American porcupine, who is the star of this episode. She resides at the Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Walnut Creek, CA. After filming with her at the wildlife center, Josh headed out with Emma Molinare (Curator of Animal Encounters) and Rachel Cross (Animal Keeper) to shoot some more footage of Penelope in action at Briones Regional Park.

Penelope was a natural in front of the camera, contentedly munching on plants while Josh filmed her.

Penelope wasn't camera shy as Josh and Emma Molinare filmed her hanging out on this tree.

Penelope gets a quick snack from Emma while Josh and Rachel get her ready for her next close-up.

After bidding farewell to Penelope and her team, Josh headed off to the Biological Imaging Facility at the University of California, Berkeley (which has been invaluable resource for our series) to film some microscope shots of porcupine quills.

As always, thank you for your support of Deep Look. We can't do it without you! If you haven't yet become a Patron, now would be an excellent time to show some love for Penelope and all the incredible animals we work with to bring you this show.