Identification
Their fur is brownish-yellow to black, and they are covered with quills that have white highlights on them.
Quills are 2-3 inches in length and are hollow.
Is one of the largest rodents in North America. 2-3 ft in length and about 20 lbs. Only beavers are bigger.
New world porcupines are those found in the Americas, and Old World are the ones in Africa and Eurasia.
Habitat
Forest areas of Canada and N. America. Can also be found in grasslands and desert shrub environments.
Nesting
Porcupines do not hibernate but stick close to their dens.
They usually den in hollow trees or rocky areas.
Behavior
Spend time on the ground, but are good swimmers and okay climbers. They can fall out of trees causing damage to themselves or even death.
Known to live as long as 18 years in the wild. Usually, live 5-7 years.
Primarily nocturnal and solitary.
Offspring
Breed in fall and early winter. They will do elaborate vocalizations and dances as part of courtship.
The male will usually shower the female with urine before mating as a signal to move her tail over for safer quill-free mating.
They are fertile for 8-12 hrs (shortest of any rodent)
Gestation lasts 200-218 days (one of the longest of any rodent)
Young are called porcupettes and are born in the spring/early summer, Generally just one per litter.
Porcupettes are born with soft quills that harden within hours. They can climb trees the same day they are born.
They usually head out on their own within a few months.
Predators
The main predators are fishers, some owls, wolverines, martens, bears, cougars, and coyotes.
They raise their quills and emit an odor to discourage predators (kind of smells like stinky cheese). If they don’t back off, they will swing their tail around like a mace. They also will attack by running in reverse.
Diet
They will eat lots of different kinds of plants. In winter it might be evergreen needles and the inner bark from trees.
In the spring or summer, it might be fruit, berries, seeds, grasses, etc.
They really like water lilies and will swim in ponds to munch on them.
Fun Facts
Porcupine means “quill pig” or “thorn pig”
A group of Porcupines is called a family
Covered in about 30,000 quills
They don’t throw quills, sometimes they come loose and fly off while they move around.
When a quill enters the skin of a predator, it continues to work its way further into the skin at the rate of 1mm per hour thanks to the 700-800 barbs at the tip of it.
When it loses a quill, it will grow a new replacement one.
The porcupine has natural antibiotics in its skin to prevent infection when it falls and gets stuck by its own quills.
They are near-sighted and slow-moving (2 mph or short distances), but have great noses and ears.