Porcupine

Life span:

They can live up to 18 years!

What do they look like?

A porcupine is a small animal, with an adult porcupine only weighing around 22 lbs. They have yellow brown to black long hair, and it conceals their thousands of prickly quills. The prickly quills are what they use for protection. They have dark eyes and a small mouth with growing teeth. Their teeth grow approximately 1.5 mm weekly! They have four fingered claws and five fingered toes that are all long and curved. With short legs and no quills on their belly, you can compare the porcupine to a prickly beaver! Porcupines are slow and only release their quills when they feel threatened. The quills are approximately 1” to 2.5” long. When approached, a porcupine will try to run away and when trapped, will make loud chattering noises as a warning before releasing their quills. If they are unable to get away, they will tighten their muscles and tuck their head in and release their quills.

Habitat:

Porcupines stick close to trees, so they are often found in forests. They live in little dens made out of anything from rock piles to trees. Porcupines stay close to their dens and only leave for food. They are big fans of apples and anything salty so they may leave a little further for one of those snacks! Porcupines often spend a lot of time alone but are known to live with other porcupines during the winter and share food.

What do they eat for food?

They are able to climb trees well so they will eat anything from tree leaves, shrubs, and forbs in the summertime. In winter, they eat the inner tree bark, twigs, buds and evergreen needles. Since they enjoy salt, they will chew on leather, bones and shed antlers which also helps their teeth which are constantly growing!

Indigenous connection:

Porcupine quills are used in many Indigenous designs. They can be dyed to create colourful jewelry and clothing. Indigenous people never waste any part of an animal, so porcupines were also an important food source.

Sources:

https://www.ealt.ca/species-spotlight-list/porcupine

https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/animal-facts-porcupine