North American Porcupine

As you can see from the picture, although they wear a formidable suit of armor, Porcupines Erethizon dorsatum, are not as invulnerable as they seem. This one was one of a few seen alongside a highway in central New York in early spring. They are not the fastest moving animals, which probably doesn't help on the highway. It's also thought that this salt loving mammal may be attracted to the salty roadways in the North.

Porcupines seem to like conifer forests. In the winter they'll eat the bark off trees, a sure sign of their presence. In North America these animals range through Canada, throughout the west, and into northern New York and New England. This is the second largest North American Rodent, coming second only to the Beaver. Adults can grow to weigh 30 pounds and range from 2-3 feet in length.

The porcupine's quills are probably its most striking feature. They are actually modified hairs that can be erected by the animal, but not "shot" (as is commonly thought) at would be attackers. Sometimes a threatened animal will "back into" the perceived threat and throw its tail around a bit to make contact. The quills are loosely attached and come out easily. They are also barbed, making them very hard to get out of the skin. Without treatment infection can set in. The only vulnerable part of the body is the underside, which some predators have been able to take advantage of successfully.

One might imagine having such quills might present problems during mating and birth, but these rodents have developed methods to get around this. Quills are held flat against the skin during mating, and things usually proceed as they would with any other mammal. After a long (for a rodent) 210 day gestation period young (usually only one) are born with soft quills that don't injure the mother.

I had the pleasure of knowing a Porcupine once, his name was Spike and he ate Monkey Chow. He slept a lot during the day and was a pretty clumsy climber. He had long claws on his hands but would grab apples with them when offered. Sometimes he would "perform" for visitors, clucking his teeth, making weird grunting noises, and do a circular "dance" with his upper body. While these animals would be hard to ever consider "pets", they are definitely worth and up-close look if given the (safe) opportunity.