* Ereth teaching himself to smile in order to ''mourn'' Poppy's apparent death is oddly funny, [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments heartwarming]], and [[TearJerker tear jerking]] all at once. Brian Floca's illustration of Ereth drawing the corners of his mouth back with his paws sells it.
* Ereth's rants in general, due to the clever expletives that he uses. The author really deserves a medal! Some choice gems include: "Musty moose marmalade"; "Lungfish loogies"; "Baggy buffalo boxers"; "Square root of platypus;" "Fish feather fruitcakes;" and "Creamed caterpillar cheese on chocolate-coated cats!"
* Mr. Ocax's fabricated claims about porcupines being bloodthirsty killers of mice, and Poppy's later discovery to the contrary.
* When he overhears a trapper claiming to be "hungry enough to eat a porcupine", Ereth eats his way through an axe handle and fills a snowmobile seat with quills. When the trappers discover his doing one jokingly suggests to the first that a porcupine might have heard his earlier remark and taken revenge.