North American Porcupine (Erithizon dorsatum)
Description: Unmistakable creature. It is dark, covered in lighter quills and hairs and moves slowly, practically waddling. Young individuals can look different because they tend to be darker overall.
Reproduction: One young is given birth to and cared for by the female. Young stay with mother for several months eventually moving out on their own.
Habitat: Woodlands, coniferous or deciduous. They live in tree cavities or natural underground cavities. Porcupines are excellent climbers and spend most of their time motionless in the trees.
Diet: Porcupines eat leaves, bark, twigs, fruits and conifer needles (especially in winter). They do not hibernate but hide in their dens, coming out to feed occasionally. Many think that they damage trees and are a nuisance species. Porcupines feed at very specific trees, damaging the bark and the tree, but they do not cause widespread damage to forests or trees as they are quite selective it seems in the trees they choose. Damage sometimes occurs when they chew items that have salt on them suck as deck boards. They have quite an affinity for salt, even chewing on sweat soaked items.
Defenses: Quills are extremely sharp, each tipped with tiny barbs that make them difficult to remove. Many predators, and dogs, have gotten a face full of these quills, learning the lesson painfully if not fatally in some cases. One myth surrounding porcupines and their quills is that they can shoot or throw them. This is completely false, the quills come out easily but cannot be used as projectiles. They also rely on their tree top homes for protection as many predators cannot access them there. The fisher is the classic enemy of the porcupine, one of the few animals that regularly kill them besides humans and their automobiles.
Reproduction: One young is given birth to and cared for by the female. Young stay with mother for several months eventually moving out on their own.
Habitat: Woodlands, coniferous or deciduous. They live in tree cavities or natural underground cavities. Porcupines are excellent climbers and spend most of their time motionless in the trees.
Diet: Porcupines eat leaves, bark, twigs, fruits and conifer needles (especially in winter). They do not hibernate but hide in their dens, coming out to feed occasionally. Many think that they damage trees and are a nuisance species. Porcupines feed at very specific trees, damaging the bark and the tree, but they do not cause widespread damage to forests or trees as they are quite selective it seems in the trees they choose. Damage sometimes occurs when they chew items that have salt on them suck as deck boards. They have quite an affinity for salt, even chewing on sweat soaked items.
Defenses: Quills are extremely sharp, each tipped with tiny barbs that make them difficult to remove. Many predators, and dogs, have gotten a face full of these quills, learning the lesson painfully if not fatally in some cases. One myth surrounding porcupines and their quills is that they can shoot or throw them. This is completely false, the quills come out easily but cannot be used as projectiles. They also rely on their tree top homes for protection as many predators cannot access them there. The fisher is the classic enemy of the porcupine, one of the few animals that regularly kill them besides humans and their automobiles.