The entire body of this rodent is covered with long needles that are black, brown or white. Experts who studied life and habits porcupine, in their reports they claim that the number of needles on the animal is approximately 30,000 pieces! Their weight does not press the rodent to the ground only because all the needles covering the porcupine’s body are hollow. When the animal is in the water, the needles serve as a buoy for it. And in a fight with predators - a tiger (a message about him -), a leopard, needles are an excellent means of defense. They dig into the enemy's body and often cause inflammation in the wounds. The porcupine itself does not suffer at all from the loss of quills, since new ones quickly grow in place of old ones.
Where is the animal found?
The porcupine family is numerous. Some of the species can be found in Asia Minor, South, Central and East. Others are in South and North America, the Middle East and Europe. Their home can be foothills and plains, savannas and deserts, tropical forests. Animals feel great in any conditions. They spend the day in cozy burrows and caves. And in the evening they come to the surface for food.
What does a porcupine eat?
The basis of the diet of rodents is plant food - the green and root parts of plants, tubers and bulbs, melons, pumpkins, cucumbers, the lower part of vegetation and bark. To chew them, animals have powerful incisors that always grow and remain sharp. If the porcupine's teeth did not have these properties, the animal would die of starvation. In the name of searching for a plant diet, the animal already has to travel huge routes and move away from its habitat by 5-7, more than kilometers. And only as cold weather sets in, the porcupine loses its summer activity. It rarely leaves the burrow and then hibernates until spring.
Spring is the breeding season of the porcupine
In spring, animals actively breed. The female carries the babies for 110-115 days. Then 2-5 funny sighted and toothy rodents are born. At birth, their body is covered with soft needles. However, very soon the babies become like their own parents. And they can repel anyone, even the worst enemy.
Attention: porcupine!
When a porcupine becomes enraged, when it is irritated, it first makes a characteristic noise with its tail quills. And then he can pierce his boot with needles. There have been reports about this more than once from the place where the porcupine was caught. Therefore, experts are careful when handling it.
In some places, porcupines can cause great damage to human plantings. Their delicacies in the spring include alfalfa, melons, grapes, fruit trees and their seedlings. Meeting animals can be dangerous for humans - the porcupine is sometimes a carrier of diseases such as brucellosis, relapsing fever and fevers of various types.
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It is difficult to confuse a porcupine with any other animal. This prickly miracle of nature is familiar to everyone since childhood due to its extraordinary appearance. What kind of animal is a porcupine? Where it lives, what it eats, how it reproduces - all this will be discussed in this article.
Description
Porcupines are a whole family of rodents, including 5 genera. These amazing creatures can grow up to a meter in length, although the average size usually does not exceed 50-60 cm. Weight is 8-12 kg, but it happens that especially large individuals reach 27 kg.
The wool is gray-brown, the needles can be much lighter. The completely white porcupine, the photo of which is presented below, is a rarity; there are practically no albinos among them. The absence of melanin deprives the animal of its protective coloring, thereby reducing its chances of survival.
The porcupine's quills are its modified hair. They can grow up to 50 cm in length and up to 7 mm in diameter. There are about 30 thousand needles on the body of this rodent; when one falls out, another immediately grows. Contrary to popular belief, the porcupine cannot shoot quills.
The animal's muzzle and belly are covered with dense thick hair, and the tail has a tassel of short needles.
The porcupine's paws are thick and short. The front ones have 3 or 4 fingers, the rear ones - 5, each of them grows a strong black claw. The porcupine walks slowly, waddling from side to side, and only in case of danger does it begin an awkward gallop, which is impossible to look at without smiling.
Habitat
What natural areas does the porcupine prefer? Where does this extravagant rodent live? Representatives of porcupines inhabit North and South America, Southeast and Central Asia, Europe, and they are also common on the African continent. This or that species can be found in tropical rainforests, savannas, deserts, and even high in the mountains.
Lifestyle
The porcupine is predominantly nocturnal, and during the day it prefers to hide in rock crevices, caves, abandoned burrows of other animal species, or sit in its own den.
It does not hibernate, but its activity during this time is significantly reduced. He waits out the cold by sitting in his home.
The porcupine's hole is an entire underground labyrinth with several rooms, numerous corridors and holes. Such a dwelling has from 2 to 4 exits. The length of the passages is up to 10 m, the depth of the hole is up to 4 m.
Whether a pride of lions or other large predators are so well protected, it is not safe for them to be around. In nature, these rodents have many natural enemies: they are hunted by bears, leopards, tigers, and lynxes. When confronted with a predator, the porcupine raises the quills on its back, stomps loudly and makes a puffing sound: this stops some, but not others.
Diet: What do porcupines eat?
The diet of the hero of the article consists of the fruits of both cultivated and wild plants, roots, tubers, berries, and cereals. During the cold season, the porcupine eats the bark and young shoots of trees, causing significant damage to plants.
This large rodent is not particularly afraid of people and often settles near agricultural lands. The porcupine is a cunning beast: where a person lives, there must be a lot of food. It causes significant damage to sorghum, loves to visit orchards, but especially often visits melon plantings, where it feasts on pumpkins and melons.
In search of food, these animals lay out entire food routes, moving away from the hole at a distance of up to 10 km.
What’s surprising is that porcupines eat not only plant foods; their diet also includes small insects and their larvae. Their teeth grow throughout their lives, constantly being sharpened. To replenish missing microelements, they often gnaw on the tusks of dead elephants.
Reproduction and lifespan
Porcupines form monogamous pairs and live in burrows as entire families. Each such colony has its own territory with a radius of about 2 km, on which there are several burrows or natural shelters.
The female and male feed not far from each other. Strengthening the relationship in a pair is facilitated by frequent sniffing, as well as regular mating, even if the female is carrying offspring or has recently given birth.
Pregnancy in a porcupine lasts about 110-115 days. The female gives birth to 1 to 5 cubs, most often in the spring. In warm areas, the season does not matter; there porcupines can give birth up to 3 times a year.
Newborn babies have soft and flexible needles that harden only after a few days. The mother feeds them with her milk from 2 weeks to 3 months, then they completely switch to plant food.
The approximate lifespan of a porcupine in nature is about 10 years. They often end up prey to large mammals. We can say for sure how long a porcupine lives in captivity: an inhabitant of the Prague Zoo named Ferdinand celebrated his 30th birthday in 2011.
- Some species of porcupines, when threatened, make a sound reminiscent of a rattlesnake. By imitating the chirping characteristic of this dangerous reptile, they scare away uninvited guests from their hole.
- If this spiny rodent understands that it will not be possible to escape from a predator, it turns its back to the enemy and runs backwards, exposing its long and dangerous needles directly to the offender’s face.
- Porcupine teeth are very hard and strong. It can even cut through steel wire.
- Porcupines are excellent tree climbers. Sitting high on the branches, they eat the bark and young green shoots. It is interesting to watch how a porcupine perched on a tree slowly and busily chews. Photos of this kind make you smile involuntarily.
- All porcupines are excellent swimmers. Their famous needles help them stay on the surface: hollow inside, they create something like a life preserver, allowing the animal to quickly and deftly overcome water obstacles.
Even when seeing a porcupine for the first time, it is difficult to confuse it with any other animal, thanks to its unique appearance. What myths exist about this mysterious animal? Where this miracle of nature lives, what it eats and how it reproduces – we’ll talk in the article.
Description of the porcupine
Porcupines are known throughout the world for their dangerous long quills. Any uninvited guest who makes the animal wary may encounter them sadly close. These elongated spines help the porcupine rodent protect itself from danger. For your information, there are more of them on the body of a porcupine than on a hedgehog. Unfortunately, appearance is often the only information most people have about these animals. For example, many people do not know the fact that the porcupine is a rodent, one of the largest rodents in the world. The average weight of an adult porcupine is twelve kilograms. Although his family is related to hedgehogs.
You can meet this wonderful beast in the forests and jungles of Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America. In general, the porcupine is considered a herbivore, but if there is a lack of plant food, it will gladly feast on small reptiles, insects and eggs found in other people's nests. There are approximately 30 different species of porcupines found in their native habitats throughout the world.
This is interesting! The sizes of animals can vary depending on the species - from tiny one-kilogram representatives of South American porcupines, to weighty ten or more kilogram African ones.
As a rule, these animals are gray or brown in color, but white representatives are also rare. The tail of an adult porcupine reaches from 20 to 25 centimeters. Weight can vary depending on location, with an average of 5.5 to 16 kilograms. Translated from French, the name of the porcupine translates as “spiked pig.”
Sharp, dangerous porcupine quills, about 25 cm long, up to 7 mm thick, weighing 250 g, are easily torn from the body. It was this fact that previously made us think that a porcupine could shoot at its offender with them. In fact, they are simply loosely attached and fall off on their own while driving or traveling over rough terrain. An attacker who falls under the wrath of this rodent risks leaving with needles in his body, which are extremely difficult and painful to remove later. Contrary to popular belief, they are not poisonous, but the puncture itself can cause a lot of inconvenience due to the high possibility of infection, because they can be dirty.
It is this fact that often leads to the appearance of man-eating tigers, which we will talk about later. The needles are regularly renewed, and new ones immediately grow in place of the fallen rods. Porcupines have versatile vocals; they behave especially “musically” during the mating season, bearing babies and childbirth. By the way, newborn babies weigh about 450 g. Their body length is about 25 cm (10 inches) in length. The feathers of newborn porcupines are still very soft and safe; in order to harden and turn into a real weapon of self-defense, they need time. The newborn offspring will remain with the mother for approximately six months.
Appearance
External coloration is given by nature to the porcupine for successful camouflage in its usual habitat.. And since the habitat of different species is different, the color of the coat also varies. They can be gray, brown, and very rarely white. The body structure of the porcupine is a little awkward. It is massive with widely spaced large but short legs. Such a bulky “figure” causes a lot of trouble while running or chasing, while the porcupine runs quite quickly, albeit loudly stomping with its clubfoot.
Read more about needles. The more than 30,000 individual quills that cover the porcupine's body aid in the process of self-defense and adaptation. These coarse, hollow hairs are made of keratin and reach an average of 8 centimeters in length. At the tip of each feather there is a sharp spine. Each hair is enclosed in its own sheath, which protects it until the porcupine feels threatened and releases the feather. The sharp tips are presented in the form of a fishhook; it is this that allows them to easily penetrate the muscles of the attacker, and subsequently cause incredible pain when extracted. If the victim, trying to free himself, makes sudden, chaotic movements, the hooks only become more firmly seated in the body.
This is interesting! Contrary to external impressions, the quills do not interfere with the porcupine’s movement, but on the contrary, they allow it to better stay on the surface of the water. This is possible thanks to the voids that are located inside the needles and act as floats. Unfortunately, there is also a disadvantage to having them in an animal. After all, beautiful porcupine quills are often used as a material for jewelry, which is why it is hunted in some countries.
Porcupines also have undercoat and guard hair. These types of hair usually cover the bodies of cubs. The undercoat itself is a dense vegetation consisting of thin, dark-colored hairs. It acts as an insulator, retaining body heat in porcupines during the winter. The guard hair is located on top of the undercoat, located on the back and tail. They grow up to four inches and provide protection for the undercoat.
The porcupine's front paws have four toes. There are five of them on the hind limbs. Each finger ends in sharp, powerful claws, which the porcupine uses for two purposes. The first is to help yourself access food. With the help of powerful claws, he easily pulls out plants necessary for food, strips the bark from trees, and deals with vines, wanting to get tasty and nutritious berries. The second goal involves burrowing into trees with strong claws, as if releasing an anchor, in order to move along tree trunks. By the way, porcupines are excellent poison dart frogs.
Separately, we should talk about the animal’s teeth. There are four sharp incisors at the front of the mouth. Their properties can be compared to a chisel. Like many rodents, a porcupine's teeth continue to grow throughout its life. If the animal stops grinding them down, there is a possibility of ingrowth and blockage of the oral cavity, after which the rodent will inevitably die of starvation. To prevent this, they constantly chew a bunch of wood. Porcupine teeth most often turn orange over time due to tannin, an enzyme found in trees.
Character and lifestyle
Asia and Africa are the native places for the porcupine. They are considered a serious pest throughout Kenya due to their large numbers and love of crops. Porcupines can also be found in South and North America. Porcupines love to settle near rocky regions, as well as in the steppe and on gentle slopes. They are excellent swimmers and climbers.
This is interesting! Most of the activity of these animals occurs at night. Despite the fact that during the daytime they prefer to lie down in their homes, you can still meet them.
Porcupines often settle near the region of human settlements. They are driven to make this choice by the desire to find salt. They try to get it by gnawing paint, doors, plywood and other objects from which they can get it. That's why in many areas people have gone to great lengths to keep them away. In search of fresh water, porcupines often climb into the courtyards of residential buildings, damaging water hoses and pipes with their teeth and claws. Even an iron wire fence cannot contain them. With the help of their powerful teeth, they easily bite through it.
Porcupines, as a rule, lead a solitary lifestyle, with the exception of mating periods or when it is necessary to jointly care for young offspring. However, they can locate their homes close to each other. For example, in caves, ancient trees or logs. Porcupines do not hibernate, withstanding even unpleasant, cold weather inside their homes.
How long do porcupines live?
According to recorded data, the longest-living porcupine celebrated its thirtieth birthday at the zoo in 2011. In the wild, the average lifespan of these animals is from ten to twenty years. Nowadays, having a lot of information about porcupines, they have been tamed and kept in captivity. The more favorable the conditions of detention, the longer the prickly pet lives. It can be purchased as a pet at flea markets or specialty pet stores.
Species of porcupines
Porcupines have many species. The most famous of them are the Malayan, South African, Javan, Crested and Indian representatives. It is clear from the names that their origin is directly related to the habitat of the animals. Also, the South African porcupine is not picky about its habitat. This animal reaches up to 25 kilograms of weight.
And it grows up to 80 centimeters in length. It is comfortable with all types of vegetation cover in South Africa, with the exception of wooded areas. Another species also lives on this continent - the brush-tailed porcupine. At the end of its scaly end are white tassels. The long-tailed porcupine is found in Sumatra and Borneo. Its needles are the main distinguishing feature of the species. They are too flexible, short and thin, which gives the impression of just thick hair-bristles. He is good at climbing trees and looks more like a huge wet rat.
Also in Sumatra is the Sumatran porcupine. It is not large in size, its weight does not exceed 5.5 kilograms, and its height is 56 centimeters. It has the same thin needles, reminiscent of wool, but they are white at the tips. This porcupine lives only on the island of Sumatra. The stiff-tailed porcupine is indigenous to Borneo. It is larger than the Sumatran one, its needles are stiffer. In addition to their wild habitats, they can be seen in city squares, where they are fed fruits and vegetables by local residents and tourists.
This is interesting! The most common species of the genus is the crested porcupine. It is found in India, the Middle East, Southern Europe, as well as in the territories of Asia Minor and Southeast Asia.
There are two types of American porcupines: North American and South American. The former are covered with uniform spines throughout the body, without elongated sections in the tail zone. The latter, however, have one distinctive feature - they climb trees very well and even set up their homes there. Also in this area there are species that cling to the branches of bushes and trees with their long tails. The length of such a tail in an adult animal is up to 45 centimeters.
The Indian porcupine, contrary to its name, is not limited to India.. You can find it in South and Central Asia, Transcaucasia and Kazakhstan. The Javan porcupine can be seen in Indonesia, and the Malayan porcupine can be seen in China, Thailand, India, Vietnam, on a few islands and peninsulas, as well as in Nepal. By their nature, porcupines are considered to be mountain animals. They live comfortably in their own burrows, although they often settle in hollow trees or caves. The animal digs long burrows, wisely equipped with several tunnels.
Range, habitats
Spiny rodents - porcupines - have settled throughout the world. They are found in Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America. Residents of different continents can be distinguished by behavior and appearance.
Porcupine diet
The rodent's diet includes a variety of rhizomes of plants and trees, apples, as well as hawthorn and rose hips. In the spring and summer, the porcupine feasts on the upper parts of green plants, their sprouted rhizomes. Tubers and bulbs are also used. By the autumn harvest, the diet is noticeably enriched. It consists of melons, grapes, alfalfa, as well as the favorite pumpkin and cucumbers, which can be stolen from people's plots. Its jaws and teeth are so strong and powerful that it will not be difficult for a rodent to chew through a metal rod.
In most of their habitats, these rodents are classified as pests. It's all about the animal's love for root vegetables. And in his desire to profit from delicious vegetables, he will not be afraid to go fishing to the nearest agricultural land, destroying the harvest. Favorite home crops include potatoes or pumpkin. While appetizingly gobbling up a sweet pumpkin, a porcupine can even make squeaking and grunting sounds with pleasure. These animals also harm the condition of the forest. The whole problem is the love of tree bark and young thin branches. For example, during the winter, just one adult porcupine can destroy about a hundred trees.
These spiny representatives of the rodent order have settled throughout the world. They can be found in Africa, South and North America, Asian countries and even in Europe. Representatives of different continents differ in their appearance and habits. The habitats of the porcupine are usually reflected in the name of the species: South African, Indian, Malayan, Javanese, North American.
Spiny rodent
The main feature of the porcupine is the quills that cover its back. They give the animal a menacing and frightening appearance; this is precisely the goal that nature pursued when creating this beast. The rodent, whose average weight is about 13 kg and length is approximately 80 cm, carries up to 30 thousand needles. In places where porcupines live, there used to be legends that the animals shoot at the enemy with these poisonous quills. In fact, light needles, up to 250 grams, simply get lost and fall off when walking over rough terrain. Their toxicity is also highly questionable, although the injection is quite painful and can cause inflammation in humans.
The air-filled quills serve as floats for the porcupine, allowing them to swim successfully. The exotic outfit, given by nature to the animal for protection, became its enemy in the human environment. It is because of the colorful and long needles that are used for decoration that these animals are most often exterminated. Porcupine meat is considered a delicacy.
Porcupine habitat
Spiny animals are considered more mountain animals. They can build long burrows with many corridors in caves and mountain voids, but they also successfully dig themselves. Settlements of some species can be found in the steppes and foothills, but even here they choose places with ravines and slopes.
The porcupine is not a predator. The diet consists of roots, fruits and berries of plants in the area where porcupines live in nature. These vegetarians are not averse to profiting from fruits from the garden and often raid peasant farmsteads. Porcupines climb trees well, are nocturnal, and sleep during the day. Strong teeth allow the rodent to tear off bark and gnaw wood, so much so that it will destroy up to a hundred plantings over the winter.
Crested porcupine or crested porcupine
This type of echinoderm is the most common and typical, also called Asian. Quite a large representative of its kind. There are males weighing 25-27 kg. The length of the body is up to a meter, plus 10-15 cm - the tail. The beautiful coloring is made up of alternating needles of black-brown and white colors. Where do crested porcupines live? Their distribution covers almost the entire Middle Eastern region to the southernmost regions of China, India, and Sri Lanka. It is also found in some countries of Southeast Asia, in
Asians eat greens: grass and leaves, and are not averse to stealing grapes, apples, and cucumbers from gardens. Therefore, they settle closer to the cultivated areas. In winter they switch to tree bark.
African echinoderms
The largest of the African rodents, the South African porcupine reaches 63-80 cm in length and weighs from 1 to 24 kg. It is distinguished by long, up to 50 cm, spines and a white line running along the croup. The quills on the tail are collected in an elegant bunch. Where does the porcupine live? Continent Africa, its southern part, is the homeland of the animal.
Another representative of this continent is the African brush-tailed porcupine. Its range covers the countries of the central part of the continent and the island of Fernando Po. It is named brush-tailed because of the light hair brush at the end of its bare, scaly tail. This echinoderm rodent swims well, and in addition to the usual plant food, it also eats small insects.
Indian porcupine
In appearance, this animal is similar to an ordinary Asian rodent, has a beautiful black-brown-white color, a black head and paws. This is the most unpretentious species of porcupines: animals live in the highlands, in forests, in steppe regions, and even in semi-deserts. They eat everything vegetable, roots and bulbs. Despite the Indian name, it thrives in the Caucasus mountains, Central Asia and Kazakhstan.
Sumatra and Borneo
In the forests and agricultural lands of Sumatra there is an atypical representative of this family: the long-tailed porcupine. Its difference from its fellows is manifested in the fact that it has very thin and flexible needles, which from a distance look like thick brown bristles. They are located in the back of the body, closer to the tail. The whole appearance of this porcupine resembles an ordinary large rat. Long-tailed individuals climb trees and bushes well; they love bamboo shoots, fruits, and pineapples.
There is also a Sumatran porcupine, which lives only in this place. This animal is relatively smaller than its relatives. The maximum length of the Sumatran endemic is 56 cm, the largest weight is 5.4 kg. Its appearance is similar to a long-tailed one - the same thin needles, more reminiscent of bristles. The color is also brown, but the ends of the bristles are white.
The rigid-spined porcupine is considered to be native to Borneo. Its appearance allows us to attribute it to the relatives of the Sumatran representative, but its needles are harder and larger in size. In addition to their usual habitats in forests and mountains, these animals can also be found in cities, where they feed on greenery and fruits in parks and squares.
Where do porcupines live in America?
Spineworts, which live on both American continents, are very similar in appearance to their typical tropical relatives, but are smaller in size and weight. This is a mini-copy of real porcupines, more reminiscent of a hedgehog. Americans are evenly covered with spines and do not have particularly long spines in the back.
North American porcupines live in the United States and Canada. They hid their spines under a thick coat of fur. This is the only North American species.
The southern continent has a large species diversity. American porcupines are called arboreal, they deftly climb trees, some settle there for permanent residence in nests or hollows. There are species with tenacious tails up to 45 cm long, with which they cling to branches and bushes.
Are there porcupines in Europe?
Rodents with spines are not typical representatives of the European fauna, but nevertheless, there are places in Europe where porcupines live. In what country did these heat-loving animals find a place for themselves? Families of these thorn bearers can be found in Greece, Italy, and Sicily. Common or crested porcupines have lived here for a long time. Scientists debate whether the introduction of porcupines to this area was an evolutionary process, or whether they were brought by the ancient Romans, who were big fans of porcupine meat. On the territory of Russia, crested porcupines can be found in the South-Eastern Caucasus.
This animal is gloomy in appearance and far from defenseless, as it is armed with many long needles sticking out in different directions. Thanks to this, he was given the name porcupine. Where does this unusual creature live? What does it eat? Is it dangerous or not? What kind of life does he lead? Let's get to know him better.
Porcupines are one of the most amazing and unusual representatives of the fauna of the whole world. Their appearance is so unique that they cannot be confused with anyone else.
Description of the animal
Once upon a time, people thought that the porcupine could shoot its quills, and that they were poisoned. Therefore, they were very afraid of him and tried to destroy him. In fact, this is a rather cute animal, belonging to the rodent order and the porcupine family. The average length of its body reaches 80 centimeters with a body weight of about 13 kilograms. This animal is distinguished by its variegated color, since each of its needles has white and dark alternating stripes.
The porcupine has a slightly elongated oval-shaped skull. Its muzzle is slightly rounded, covered with short fur. Some species of porcupines have a bristly crest on their heads.
Most species have a tail ranging from 6 to 15 cm in length; only long-tailed and brush-tailed porcupines have 25-cm tails.
Variety of species
Below is a brief description of some of the porcupine species:
- Malay. These animals are quite large. Adults grow up to 72 cm in length, with a body weight of up to 24 kg. Where does the porcupine live? In the forest - this is their most preferred place. You can meet them in Nepal, India (northeast), China (south and center), Asia (Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore and Myanmar, on the Malaysian peninsula and on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra).
- Crested or combed. These rodents are second in size only to the beaver and the South American capybara. They got their name from the hard ridge on their head. The body length of adult individuals can reach 90 cm. Where does the crested porcupine live? They are widespread throughout almost the entire Middle East, right down to southern China. These animals are also found in India, Sri Lanka and some Asian countries (southeast). The species' distribution range covers the island of Sicily and mainland Italy.
- Indian. This is also a large species (body weight - up to 18 kg, length - 90 cm). Where does the Indian porcupine live? This species is not picky in terms of habitat - it is found in forests, deserts, savannas and mountains at an altitude of almost 4 km. The range covers not only the territories of India, but also the southern part of Asia.
Other varieties of porcupines include the following species: Javan, Stiff-spined, South African, Sumatran, Long-tailed, African, etc.
A little about needles and teeth
A peculiar distinctive feature of animals of the porcupine family is their quills, which are the longest among all the quills found in mammals on our planet. They can reach 50 cm with a thickness of 7 mm. The weight of one needle is only 250 grams, although it seems that the burden on this animal is quite heavy. Thanks to such formidable protection, the porcupine not only inspires fear among potential enemies, but also floats perfectly on the water, since inside its quills are completely empty and act as floats. Unfortunately, nature, having awarded this creature with such an unusual weapon, did not take into account that it could cause harm to its owner. And the reason for this is people who exterminate porcupines in order to make jewelry from its needles.
It should also be noted that the porcupine has strong teeth, thanks to which it can easily bite even a thick wire.
Where do porcupines live in the wild?
These amazing animals live in African countries, South America, Canada, the USA, India and Europe. You can also meet them in the territories of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, and Transcaucasia.
Representatives of this family inhabit a wide variety of biotopes: tropical and subtropical forests to areas occupied by savannas, deserts, and mountainous areas. Many species live near humans and feed in agricultural fields.
It should be noted that in the classification of rodents there is a separate family of American porcupines (or arboreals). It has 12 (according to some sources 23) species. The continent where arboreal porcupines live is America (North and South). They differ significantly from our European ones in appearance, since they are very distantly related. In representatives of some species it is difficult to recognize a porcupine. Their main difference is in the needles, which grow only up to 11 cm. But these animals have a long (up to 45 cm) tail.
Nora
Porcupine is a nocturnal animal. During daylight hours, he usually hides in caves, rocky crevices, in dens abandoned by other representatives of the fauna, or in holes dug himself. The length of the porcupine's shelter is approximately 10 m, and the depth can reach 4 meters. The burrow has several rooms (rooms), among which one “room” is necessarily lined with fresh grass.
These animals do not hibernate, but their activity decreases at this time of year. They spend most of their time in their home.
Nutrition
Let's look at what porcupines eat and where they live in natural conditions. These animals feed on the bark and branches of trees. They climb trees without much difficulty, because they have long claws. Porcupines start eating while sitting on a branch. By eating bark, they cause considerable damage to the forest. During the winter alone, one adult destroys 80-100 trees.
In addition, they can eat various fruits (apples, rose hips, hawthorn) and roots. Porcupines love potatoes, so they can also visit vegetable gardens. They usually forage for food at night and sleep during the day.
Enemies
Where the porcupine lives, there are also its enemies. Although these rodents have sharp spines on their bodies, they are often attacked by wolves, foxes, bears, lynxes, coyotes and cougars. Even huge American eagle owls are at risk of fighting with a porcupine.
It should be noted that the remains of porcupines were also found by researchers in the stomachs of large species of crocodiles.
Finally
The main enemy of this animal is man. This is explained by the fact that porcupines often feed on plantations cultivated by people. By digging up the ground and eating crops, chewing through wire fences and cutting through irrigation hoses, they, unfortunately, cause a lot of damage. This behavior is the main reason for their extermination. There are two more reasons - delicious porcupine meat (white, tender and juicy, like that of a rabbit) and needles, from which various crafts are made. When buying them, you need to think about the fact that our world will become a little poorer when the last porcupine dies.