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Monday 10 April 2017

Porcupine

A porcupine is a rodent with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend them from predators. The name porcupine means ‘one who rises up in anger.’


History's oldest porcupine, Cooper, celebrated his 32nd birthday on March 18, 2020. He served as the Boston Museum of Science's animal ambassador, and is also the world's oldest living rodent. Cooper passed away later in 2020.

Porcupines have over 30,000 quills. The quills are about 75 mm long and 2 mm wide.

The quills of New World porcupines have microscopic, backwards-facing barbs on the tip that catch on the skin making them hard and painful to pull out.


They're excellent swimmers because the hollow quills keep them afloat.

All porcupines float in water.

Most porcupines are about 60–90 cm long, with a 20–25 cm long tail. They are the third-largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver.

Their diet consists of leaves, herbs, twigs, and green plants such as clover. In the winter, the porcupine may eat bark. It often climbs trees to find food.


A group of porcupines is called a prickle.

A baby porcupine is called a "porcupette."

Porcupine reproduction is a rough and selective practice, When a female is ready to mate she climbs a tree and vocalizes loudly like a cat. This mating call attracts the males, which then fight brutally with each other. It's not unusual to see a winning, mating male porcupine with a hundred or so quills of rival males' tails stuck in his face.

A male porcupine urinates on the female to let her know that it's time for mating.

Porcupines have antibiotics in their skin that prevent infection when they fall out of trees and are stuck with their own quills.

Source Nwf

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