Porcupine
Porcupines are a type of rodent.
COLOUR: White and black-ringed quills and spines cover flanks, tail and upper parts of the body. The head carries a crest of flexible black spines with white tips. The remainder of the body has coarse black hair, shading to brown in older animals.
HABITAT: A wide variety of habitats including mountains; not found in forests or dry desert. Porcupines shelter in a cave or rock crevice, but if these are not available it will settle for a hole in the ground, such as the disused burrow of an aardvark. Porcupines are nocturnal, but can occasionally be seen during the day, sunning themselves outside their shelters. This animal is very shy and will disappear quickly if it is disturbed. They have the habit of using tracks to travel along, and are noisy animals, proceeding with much snuffling and grunting in addition to the noise of their quills scraping against obstacles, or their noisy chewing. They can cause severe destruction to maize, root and vegetable crops.
They are found in two main regions of the world, so scientists group them into either Old World or New World porcupines. Old World porcupines live in Europe, Africa, and Asia; some examples are the North African crested porcupine, African brush-tailed porcupine, and Indian crested porcupine. New World porcupines live in North, Central, and South America; some examples are the Canadian porcupine, Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine, and Brazilian porcupine.
SIZE: Length 84 cm, mass 17 kg.
GESTATION PERIOD: 6 – 7 weeks
POTENTIAL LONGEVITY: 20 years
MOST LIKE: Unlike any other animal.
All porcupines are nocturnal and quite adaptable, found in a variety of habitats, as long as there is vegetation. There are a few differences between the Old World and New World species.
The Porcupine is the largest rodent in Southern Africa. When this animal is alarmed, it erects its quills and rattles its tail: the quills make a loud noise when shaken. The porcupine fights by moving backwards at a speed to embed the quills into a soft part of its enemy’s anatomy which then causes painful wounds; alternatively, it will stop so suddenly that the enemy will be impaled. Contrary to popular belief, porcupines do not shoot their quills out, but the quills can fall out when shaken.
Porcupines gnaw on bones in order to provide them with added phosphorous and calcium, and bones often accumulate in their den. Cape porcupines are monogamous. Mating is a careful exercise: the female backs up to the male with her spiny tail raised vertically. They live in extended family groups, consisting of a male, female, and numerous offspring from consecutive litters. The average litter size is three.
