Porcupine
Geographic Range: Most of Canada and U.S., south to Mexico.
Status: No special status
Length: 26 – 27 inches
Weight: 10 – 28 pounds
Description: Large, chunky body, with high-arching back and short legs. Long guard hairs on front half of body, quills on rump and tail. They are black or brown in the East and yellowish in the West. Porcupine feet have unique furless soles with small, pebbly-textured fleshy knobs and long, curved claws
Habitat: Deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forests. In west, dry, scrubby areas with scattered trees
Typical Diet: Porcupines are strict vegetarians. They feed on leaves, twigs, and green plants such as, skunk cabbage, lupines, and clover in the spring.
Life Span: 8 years
Special Notes:
- In the Order, Rodentia.
- The porcupine’s generic name means "one who rises in anger."
- Porcupines are solitary and active year-round. During extremely cold periods, they may den up, sometimes with other porcupines.
- They are primarily nocturnal and may rest during the day in a hollow tree or log, underground burrow or in a tree.
- The Common Porcupine has about 30,000 quills on its body, which are modified hairs. They are solid at the tip and base, hollow for most of the shaft, and loosely attached to a sheet of voluntary muscles beneath the skin.
- Fishers are adept at flipping a porcupine over to attack its wiry-haired underside. Other predators include coyote, bobcat and mountain lion.
- Mate in October - November – most vocal at this time of year.
- Gestation is about 7 months, 1 young born May–June
