Porcupine
From LoveToKnow 1911
PORCUPINE (Fr., pore-epic, "spiny pig"), the name of the largest European representative of the terrestrial rodent mammals, distinguished by the spiny covering from which it takes its name.
Porcupine in Wind Cave National Park
Most visitors to Wind Cave have the opportunity to observe and enjoy a variety of wildlife that live in the park such as the bison and mule deer.
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Porcupine
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Porcupine
Related Category: Vertebrate Zoology
member of either of two rodent families, characterized by having some of its hairs modified as bristles, spines, or quills.
Porcupines possess a very unique defense system. A porcupine's first line of defense is escaping from danger by climbing up a tree. However, if such an escape is not possible, the porcupine has many options.
Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)
The Porcupine
The porcupine lives throughout Canada (and the United States) in forests, deserts or almost any terrain.
Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)
Species Code: ERDO
Description: The porcupine is a medium-sized rodent, that is related to mice, rats and beavers. An adult porcupine is about 50 cm long (20 inches), not counting the tail. They can weigh from 4.
Porcupines quills fall off and molt like an animals hair, and is replaced by new quills, they cannot throw their quills. In the old world the porcupines being largely terrestrial and nocturnal have smoother quills.
Porcupines are rodents best known for their coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend them from predators. They are the fourth largest rodent, after the capybara, mara, and beaver.
Porcupines have soft hair, but on their back, sides, and tail it is usually mixed with sharp quills. These quills typically lie flat until a porcupine is threatened, then leap to attention as a persuasive deterrent.
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Recent Porcupine Needle Grass Reports in Alberta ...
Porcupine
Order Rodentia : Family Erethizontidae : Erethizon dorsatum (Linnaeus) ...
Porcupines are found throughout the upper two-thirds of Minnesota. There may be several porcupines in a square mile of forest habitat.
Population and management ...
Porcupine
A West African proverb advises against rubbing bottoms with a porcupine. Anyone tempted to do the bump with these prickly rodents should heed this warning.
Porcupinefish
Porcupinefish are fish of the family Diodontidae, (order Tetraodontiformes), also commonly called blowfish (and, sometimes, "balloonfish" or "globefish").
African porcupine, North African crested porcupine
Hystrix cristata
A large, ground-living nocturnal rodent covered in long spines or quills and living in family groups in complex burrow systems.
Life span
Up to 21 years in captivity.
Crested Porcupine
Scientific name: Hystrix cristata
Family: Hystricidae
Order: Rodentia
Class: Mammalia ...
African Porcupine
Hystrix africaeaustralis
Description - Other Names - Distribution - Taxonomy ...
Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend them from predators. Porcupines are the third largest rodent, after the capybara, and beaver, and are not to be confused with hedgehogs which are Erinaceomorphs.
Porcupines that become alarmed do not shoot their quills. They respond to the stimulus by raising them up similar to the way people respond to the weather by getting goose bumps.
Porcupines can’t “throw' their quills, but the quills easily detach when touched and provide the porcupine with a strong defense from predators.
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Porcupines are strict vegetarians. In the spring they feed on leaves, twigs and green plants. In winter, they chew through the outer bark of fir, hemlock, aspen and pines trees to eat the tender layer of tissue below.
Porcupinefish can also inflate their bodies with water or air, but these fishes are also armed with well-developed spines from head to tail. These spines, which can be up to 5 cm (2 in.) long, make the porcupine fish even more difficult to attack.
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Porcupines are solitary. They mate in fall or early winter. A single offspring is born after a seven month gestation. The well-developed young weigh about 3 pounds at birth, climb trees in two days and become sexually mature in their second year.
A porcupine produces one offspring at a time. Young are able to move about quite briskly shortly after birth and, unlike their stolid parents, are quite playful.
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The porcupine uses its quills for defense. The porcupine cannot shoot its quills. When a predator approaches, the porcupine will turn its back, raise the quills and lash out at the threat with its tail.
This porcupine sleeps during the day but is active at night. That’s when it searches the treetops for tasty leaves to eat. Sometimes it even snacks on lizards.
Old World porcupines do not climb or jump very well, but they are excellent swimmers.
Habits: Porcupines move slowly with a swaying gait. Their sight is poor, but they evade enemies by taking a defensive posture, arching their back to expose their barbed spines, ...
North American Porcupine
Erethizon dorsatum
The North American Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) is a slow moving member of the rodent family. It is our 2nd largest rodent, only surpassed by the American Beaver in size in the United States.
North American Porcupine
The North American Porcupine is a well-protected, plant-eating rodent that spends much of its time in trees, looking for food. These slow-moving animals have sharp, needle-like quills protecting their body.
North American Porcupine
(Erethizon dorsatum)
2 images
The North American Porcupine is the second largest rodent in North America after the beaver. It has a distinctive spiny coat and moves in slow lumbering fashion.
North American Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)
No photo of the North American Porcupine available.
The long-spine porcupinefish has dark patches on its sides and back.
It has long spines that protrude from all over its body, except for the fins and face.
When not threatened, this fish's spines will lie flat against its body.
Fun Facts ...
Diet:
At the Zoo, this porcupine receives fruit, vegetables, monkey chow and rodent block. The diet in the wild consists of leaves, tender stems, fruits, blossoms, and roots. They will also peel bark from the trees to reach the under layer.
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Porcupines and Fishers
Fishers are one of the few animals able to successfully kill porcupines. They use their speed to stay out in front of the porcupine, weakening them by biting the face until they can be flipped over.
Porcupine
Africa Mammals Guide Information: The Porcupine is the largest rodent in the region. The body is covered with quills, spines and flattened black bristles. The quills are white with black rings and are about 30 cm long.
Porcupine
Erethizon dorsatum (scientific)
The North American porcupine lives in woodlands and forests throughout Alaska and the western half of the United States. You can also see porcupines in New England and the Northeast.
North American Porcupines are large, slow-moving, tree-climbing rodents, protected from predators by their formidable quills. In winter, they eat the bark, phloem, and cambium of trees, particularly conifers.
African Crested Porcupine - New Species Acquisition
Fundraising & Sponsorship Committee
July 26, 1:00pm - Metro Hall Room 304
Agenda
Fundraising Event Gala
Minutes
May 11, 2011 2:00pm Metro Hall Board Room 301 ...
Diet (wild):
Deer, porcupines, rabbits, coyotes, prairie dogs, beaver, sheep, skunks and grasses.
Diet (zoo):
Carnivore diet ...
A Blackblotched Porcupinefish at Flores
A Blackfin Hogfish at the Great Barrier Reef
A Black-lined Sleeper Goby and Red-barred Sandperch
A Black-lined Sleeper Goby at the Osprey Reef
A Blackmargined Damsel from the Solomon Islands ...
Other prey species include white-tailed deer, elk, moose (Alces alces), bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), porcupines (Erthizon dorsatum), American beavers (Castor canadensis), snowshoe hares (Lepus californicus), ground squirrels (Citellus spp.), ...
black-blotched porcupinefish (Diodon liturosus)
blackbelt hogfish (Bodianus mesothorax)
blackcap basslet (Gramma melacara)
blacklip butterfly (Chaetodon kleinii)
blackpatch trigger (Rhinecanthus verrucosus)
blue angel (Centropyge sp.) ...
In deserts the bulk of the diet consists of hyrax, mice, porcupine, ground birds and insects, while in the Kruger National Park it consists primarily of impala, blue wildebeest, zebra and warthog complemented by giraffe and buffalo.
All have spines of some sort, but their spines lack the barbules that characterize the spines of New World porcupines. In Trichys, for example, the spines are short, flattened, and not especially well developed.
Usually two or three, but occasionally up to six, kittens are born in an old porcupine or aardvark burrow, under a bush or in a rock crevice.
Family Hystricidae: Old World porcupines (Africa, Asia)
Family Bathyergidae: African mole-rats (Africa)
Family Petromuridae: rock dassies (Africa)
Family Thryonomyidae: cane rats (Africa)
Family Erethizontidae: New World porcupines (New World) ...
Spotted Hyena have also been observed killing and eating Hares, Waterbuck, Eland, Buffalo, porcupine, snakes, warthogs, domestic cattle, Lion, other Spotted Hyena, black rhino, Hippo, tortoise and many more species.
These are reduced to stiff, keratinous quills, like porcupine quills, with no barbs. A claw is on each second finger. The furcula and coracoid are degenerate, and their palatal bones and sphenoid bones touch each other.
There are three families of pufferfish, Tridontidae (a single three-toothed species), Tetradontidae (smooth and sharpnose puffers with four teeth), and Diodontidae (the spiny pufferfish, burrfishes, and porcupinefishes with two fused teeth).
They've been reported to eat such things as birds, rats, monkeys, deer and even porcupines! The prey is swallowed whole and digested while the python basks in the sun, which keeps its body temperature high enough to be able to digest properly.
Suspecting his dog had encountered a porcupine, my brother hastened to the rescue. There was no porcupine; instead his pet was fleeing a wrathful mother grouse fluffed up to double her normal size, hissing menacingly and in hot pursuit.
The pacarana is a large rodent, weighing 10 - 15 kg (22 - 33 lb), that has been said to resemble an immense guinea pig or a spineless porcupine. The pacarana is found in forested valleys and mountain slopes at altitudes of 240 - 2000 m (800 - 6600').
African brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus africanus)
Information on the African brush-tailed porcupine is currently being researched and written and will appear here shortly... More 7 Images 0 videos ...
No closed hunting season for opossum, porcupine, red squirrel, skunk, thirteen-lined ground squirrel, weasel, woodchuck, English (house) sparrow, European starling, and feral pigeon (rock dove). Click on link for additional rules.
Maintain Triodia (spinifex or porcupine grass) in the area.
Retention of grasslands, including the full cycle of grass development such a seed set and tussock formation.
Retention of stick and leaf litter for food and shelter.
RODENTIA: Erethizontidae (New World Porcupines)
Common Name Scientific Name Distribution
North American Porcupine
Erethizon dorsatum ...
The Rodentia also includes beavers, muskrats, porcupines, woodchucks, chipmunks, squirrels, prairie dogs, marmots, chinchillas, voles, lemmings, and many others.
 See also: Beaver, Squirrel, Prairie Dog, Deer, Mice
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