how long ago did the porcupine die?

My dad and I went back to lime kiln trail a week ago. we walked for a while, exploring new parts of the forest and saw 3 woodpeckers (either downy or harry woodpeckers). we also found  a gartersnake (which I got to hold).




As we where walking along some burnt trees, my dad spotted something. At first I didn't believe him, because we hadn't seen anything yet and i was surrounded by mosquitoes and flies (which doesn't help).  but when I got to where he was, I saw it. A porcupine skull with the spine. I could tell it was a rodent because of the orange  front teeth. it was too big to be a muskrat, and too small to be a beaver. (neither the muskrat or the beaver would be in the middle of the forest anyway). When we got home I did some research (to make sure I was right) and it was definitively a porcupine. Here it is with the other bones:

and of underneath the skull

at first my dad and i thought it might have died during the fire, of smoke inhalation.  but with the help of my aunt and cousin, i have concluded that the porcupine probably died before the fire. this is  the main reason why:

when we found it, there where no limbs. that means that another animal carried them away. If the porcupine had died in the fire, there would be no flesh left, hence the bones being burnt. and if there was nothing left but bones, carnivores would not take the limbs.

the fire was 2 about 2 months ago, meaning this porcupine died at least 2 months ago.

another example of the limbs being carried away from the body is my deer leg bones i found a couple weeks ago.We found the limbs, but no body.

i am really happy i have this skull, because it is the first skull we found. (with no flesh)