Porcupines: Fast Facts About North America's Quilled Rodent

The American porcupine is a large rodent with sharp quills. Its fur runs from brownish-yellow to black; its quills are usually white or yellow.

At a glance

Range: very wide — Alaska, most of Canada, the Great Lakes region, much of the western United States, and the Northeast. Porcupines live in many different climates and elevations.

Quills

• A porcupine carries about 30,000 quills, made of keratin — the same material as our hair and nails.
• They are for defense: hollow and loosely attached, they come away easily when a predator touches them. Their sharp tips and barbs make them hard to pull out once stuck.
• Lost quills grow back.
• Porcupines cannot shoot their quills.

Getting around

• Climbing: an excellent grip and long claws let them climb trees, with the tail for balance.
• Swimming: surprisingly good swimmers — their hollow quills help them float.

Food and family

• Diet: all kinds of plants. In winter, evergreen needles and the inner bark of trees; in spring and summer, berries, grasses and stems.
• Breeding: in fall and winter, with calls and a courtship dance. Babies — porcupettes — are born in spring or early summer.

Leave No Trace: keep a safe distance from all wildlife, and keep dogs on a leash.

Sources

Based on "Fast Facts: Porcupines," National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.