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The
word porcupine stems from the Latin “porcus”, for
pig, and the French “epine” for thorn or quill.
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The porcupine is a controversial,
yet important, forest creature. Our more prickly encounters with “quill
pigs” may be remedied with a little knowledge about their biology.
As North America’s second largest rodent- the beaver
is largest- adult porcupines range from 2 _ to 3 feet long and can weigh
35 pounds. Porcupines are nocturnal, and strictly vegetarian. Throughout
winter, they survive on the cambium (living tissue) layer of trees, pines,
aspen, and cottonwood being preferred. Occasionally a porcupine will continually
feed in a single tree, partially or completely girdling its trunk and causing
tree deformation or death. From spring through fall, porcupines supplement
their diet with leaves, soft plants, mushrooms, vegetables, and fruits.
October is mating season, and a single “porcupette” is
born to each mother in May or June. The young are born with soft quills
that harden soon after birth. Porcupettes eat vegetation within two weeks
of birth, but stay with their mothers until fall.
The word porcupine stems from the Latin “porcus”,
for pig, and the French “epine” for thorn or quill, explaining
the “quill pig” nickname. The porcupine’s quill count
is impressive, with roughly 30,000 quills per animal. The quill itself is
a modified hollow hair tipped with microscopic barbs.
Porcupines cannot shoot their quills. A threatened porcupine
tenses muscles under its skin to erect the quills, faces away from the attacker,
and swings its quilled tail. Upon contact, quills detach from the porcupine.
Embedded in the attacker’s flesh, quills expand with body heat, preventing
easy removal. Muscle movements draw the quills further in at the rate of
an inch per day. Interestingly, porcupine quills are antiseptic, keeping
the porcupine infection-free should it suffer a self-inflicted quilling.
Keeping dogs contained in porcupine country prevents quillings.
Should your dog be quilled, the sole solution is removing all embedded quills.
To remove a quill, “deflate it” by cutting the end off, then
pull it out with pliers. Clean the injured area, and allow your dog to lick
its wounds. If you have any difficulty finding or removing all quills, visit
your vet.
If a porcupine takes up residence in you favorite landscape
tree, try harassing it into leaving with spray from a hose (no direct hits,
please!). After eviction, loosely wrap the trunk with three vertical feet
of sheet metal, preventing revisitation.
Trying to cure their insatiable appetite for salt, porcupines
will gnaw on your hand tools, saddles, boots, etc. Protect your gear through
careful storage. This salt craving also draws porcupines to the edges of
salted highways, where vehicles often strike them.
Despite humans’ many conflicts with them, porcupines
are ecologically important. The twigs they drop while feeding are winter
food for deer, rabbits, and elk. Damaged trees become habitat for insects,
which in turn feed woodpeckers. A girdled tree’s death frees up
resources for understory plants that are habitat for numerous animals.
Porcupines even eat some “harmful” plants, namely mistletoe,
a pine tree parasite.
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