The literal translation of this is “the irritable back.” The porcupine uses its sharp quills to inflict harm to any would-be predators that get within close range. The name “porcupine” is very appropriate, coming as it does from the Latin porcus, meaning swine, and spina, meaning thorn. Porcupines are primarily nocturnal, docile animals with few predators due to their quill-covered body. However, they will eat just about any kind of vegetation. In the interior West, including Utah, cottonwoods, willows, pines, Douglas-firs, spruces, and true firs are preferred by porcupines, especially for their bark. Porcupines primarily feed in the tree canopy throughout the winter by chewing evergreen needles, bark, twigs, and buds off trees. Due to their heavy bodies and short legs, porcupines cannot easily navigate deep snow, therefore wintertime adds extra pressure on this strict plant eater to find accessible and nutritionally dense food. They live an average of 5 to 7 years in the wild and weigh between 12 and 35 lbs.ĭepending on the season, porcupines eat a wide range of vegetation including bark, needles, leaves and the reproductive and readily eaten vegetative parts of woody plants, including nuts, seeds, fruits, and buds (these are considered mast). Their strong tails are able to grasp objects and also help to stabilize their bodies as they climb up and down trees. Porcupines have strong, short legs for gathering food, and long claws on both their front and hind legs for efficient climbing. Their habitats extend from alpine forest ecosystems in Alaska to cottonwood stands throughout the West to Mexico, and across the northern U.S. They are best known for their stout, quill-covered bodies, and their lumbering gait. The North American porcupine ( Erethizon dorsatum) is one of the most widely distributed herbivores and the second largest member of the rodent family in North America. PDF Version Photo courtesy Paul Bolstad, University of Minnesota We explain specific techniques for protecting trees and property from porcupine damage. They’re not related to porcupines but they do look a bit like miniature versions of them.This fact sheet describes the basic ecology and behavior of the porcupine and identifies ways to determine if porcupines are damaging trees on your property. Who knows what natural wonders are just waiting to be discovered at the click of a mouse!Īlas, we don’t get porcupines here in the UK. Have a go and test your natural history knowledge today. We have more than 60, and each of them is free to play. If you’re interested in the natural world then you might like our Nature quizzes. ![]() The porcupine is unharmed and the quills are used to decorate headdresses The quills are harvested by throwing a blanket over a porcupine, embedding some of the quills which can be removed from the blanket later. American Indians also make use of porcupines – though their quills rather than their meat.This has led to a decline in porcupine numbers in the Far East In Southeast Asia porcupines are hunted by humans for food.They live in a variety of habitats from forests to deserts, and from hillsides to mountains.They are also coated with an antibiotic so any wound is unlikely to become infected – how considerate! They have barbed tips which make them hard to remove if you are pricked. Instead, a threatened porcupine will swat at its attacker with its tail, hoping to pierce them with its quills It was once thought that porcupines could shoot their quills at would-be predators.The average New World porcupine has about 30,000 of them! For protection, porcupines have thousands of sharp quills.The eldest known porcupine lived to be 27 years old Porcupines are one of the longest-living rodents. ![]()
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