We all know about porcupine quills, but what about this creature’s other parts? Like humans, there’s a lot more to porcupines than first meets the eye.
Their lovely coat for example… Due to the odd quill embedded with the fur, bristles and hair, it doesn’t necessarily invite petting, but certainly appears quite thick and warm. Porcupines don’t hibernate, so this heavy coat would make our cold winters more tolerable.
Look at those shiny black claws. They’d come in handy for climbing and digging up roots. And see that soft underbelly? This is the tender, vulnerable part of porcupines that predators such as coyotes and fishers try to expose by flipping them over. No wonder they keep it hidden.
A quick whack of a porcupine’s tail will embed quills into an unwary predator. The quills are barbed and a likely death sentence to an animal that gets a mouthful of them and becomes unable to eat. Yikes!
Though its orange teeth may leave something to be desired by the whitestrips crowd, this is a winning smile if ever there was one. Like the beaver, a porcupine’s ever-growing rodent teeth are kept sharp and short by constant chewing on trees.
Who knew there was so much more to porcupines than just their quills? This porcupine was more than generous with its willingness to pose before 6 am, especially while doing chin-ups for its early morning exercise routine. Oops! Since porcupines are nocturnal, better make that a late night exercise routine.
For more on porcupines, see:
Bark Nibblers
Porcupines in Apple Trees
Porcupines Along the Salt Marsh Trail
Flandrum Hill 
There quite sweet really aren’t they? Although I can still remember all too well Sybil’s pictures of her dogs after an episode with one of those fellas!
Lynne, my dog got mouthfuls of quills on more occasions than I’d like to remember too. He never learned to stay away from them.
I saw three porcupines this morning. Hopefully dog walkers along the Salt Marsh Trail are using leashes.
I have sometimes found porcupine quills while walking on the mountain or in the forests, but I have never seen the porcupines itself out in nature, probably because they’re still asleeep! Well done on capturing those images, Amy.
Reggie, I’ve never found any quills myself. Because they’re hollow, they can be cut and threaded into jewelry. Your Cape porcupines have longer quills than ours. Maybe that’s why their quills are more visible on the ground.
That is interesting – that our Cape porcupines have longer quills. I have read somewhere that the demand for quills and decorative items made with them for the curio industry has increased the killing of porcupines (have a look here: http://biophile.co.za/animal-welfare/say-no-to-the-quill-trade). I hope that this is not the case with your porcupines too.
Reggie, that is not the case here (at least that I know of). Your poor Cape porcupine is certainly at risk of being wiped out entirely if the demand for those quill items continues.
I can understand the African farmers’ frustrations with their gnawing. I’ve seen many otherwise healthy trees killed by porcupines when they girdle them (chew the bark all around the circumference of the trunk).
Most Canadians only see porcupines (or their quills) for a brief moment when they appear in our travels as roadkill. Salt is used to break up ice/snow on our roads in winter and porcupines are attracted to the salt. Since they’re usually slow-moving, they don’t stand much of a chance when a vehicle crosses their paths. They’re also out at night when visibility on poorly lit country roads is not the best.
Now you are making me want to pause beside a porcupine and admire its many different body parts. 🙂 I especially liked your photo highlight the claws and teeth. A few weeks ago we saw porcupines every day sitting up on the tallest branches of some trees munching away at the newest and most tender buds. Lovely post.
Kathy, this seems to be the time of year when I most see porcupines. I saw three yesterday morning. A large one had just crossed the road and was moving more quickly than I would have expected. Maybe it wasn’t in the mood to be photographed 😉
Glad you enjoyed the post.
It really is unusual to be able to capture that many porky poses! I see them every now and then, usually at dusk, when they’re probably starting their busy “day” just as I’m ending mine. They’re pretty slow, but I’m pretty wary, and have never managed to get a useful photo. Good job, Amy-Lynn.
Gerry, if you have the dogs with you, I can understand your reluctance to get too close. This one was trying to join another that was already resting on a higher branch. It wasn’t moving too quickly so I luckily had the opportunity to take several photos.
Oh Amy-Lynn these shots are great. Love your “whitestrips” comment about the teeth. I’d never seen the “hands” of a porkie as well as is shown in your photo.
Three in one morning — awesome !
Thanks Sybil. I had never seen their hands before either and never would have thought their claws would be so long. The neat thing about the sightings was that they were seen in two separate locations. Glad you liked the whitestrips mention 😀
Thanks for the close-up peek at a porcupine. 🙂
You’re welcome Patti 🙂
Thanks for the introduction to porcupines, Amy-Lynn. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in the woods and I had no idea that they climb trees! Love the orange smile on the one you photographed. 🙂
Barbara, it’s a good thing they climb trees – otherwise a lot more dogs would end up with a mouthful of quills! Yes that is a lovely orange smile 🙂
What a merging of threats and beauty! One wants to stay and admire, but there is also that promise of barbed fearsomeness. Thanks for being steadfast and providing us with such wonderful pictures!
Aubrey, the porcupine was more afraid of me than I was of it. Despite its quills, it still seemed so vulnerable. They’re supposed to be very easy to kill with just a whack on the nose with a stick.
Great pictures! I’m from Missouri, but we have a few around. I showed these pictures to my six-year-old son because he hasn’t seen one up close yet… then told him stories of my one close brush with one when I was hiding to play a prank on a friend. Also told him how back in my junior high days my dogs always seemed to find porcupines the hard way! Glad I stumbled across this blog while looking for great blogs for my own blog project!
Thanks Josh. You’re lucky your close ‘brush’ with a porcupine didn’t end up with you getting prickled. The closest I’ve come to touching one unexpectedly was along a trail just before dawn. In the dim light, I didn’t realize it was walking in front of me until I was almost upon it.
Glad you enjoyed the post 🙂