Porcupines - Fact and Fiction
Recently, I was talking to a friend, who mentioned that he had seen on television that when determining the sex of a new born porcupine, it is necessary to have a DNA test done on a quill. Now, I had never heard of this, and after doing some research, I found that my friend’s information was correct.
The following is what the Smithsonian found: “When born porcupine quills will soon become hard. Because prehensile-tailed porcupines don't have external sex organs—making it difficult to tell if they are male or female as babies—our geneticists use the DNA in a quill to determine if a porcupette is a male or female.
Figuring out the sex of a porcupine can be a difficult task. Porcupetts aren't always easy to handle, and when young they show no sexual dimorphism. However, veterinarians, geneticists, and keepers at the Smithsonian's National Zoo have figured out a novel and easy way to determine the sex of prehensile-tailed porcupines, and all it takes is a single quill.”
When we moved to Bradford County in 1969, the only area where I saw porcupines was on Barclay and Armenia Mountains. Today, the porcupine population is high, and their range has expanded. It is not uncommon to see road-killed porcupines in most sections of the county. The Pennsylvania Game Commission has re-introduced the fisher in an effort to reduce the porcupine population.
A porcupine is one of our easiest recognized animals. Through the generations many fables have been told about the porcupine and here are a few: a porcupine can throw its quills; a female porcupine does not breast feed its young; a porcupine is born without quills; a porcupine is protected by law because it is assumed a person lost in the woods can easily catch and kill a porcupine. ALL OF THESE STATEMENTS ARE FALSE.
In the fall, I would often receive a call from someone that wanted me to identify a sound he or she had heard in the woods. The sound was described as a loud shrieking call followed by another animal calling from a distance away. The calls continued; however, they were becoming closer to each other. Finally, it appeared as if the two animals met up with each other. The caller always commented that the sounds were extremely eerie.
These calls were made by male and female porcupines as part of their mating ritual. Usually, porcupines are silent animals; however, during the breeding season (September through November), they grunt, groan, shriek, bark and whine to attract each other. These calls are often heard up to one quarter of a mile away.
When two porcupines meet they face each other, rub noses, gnash their teeth, stand on hind legs and scream at one another. Body movements, which could appear as if the two were dancing, are performed. Before mating, the male showers the female with urine. Unlike many mammals, the males do not fight over females.
The gestation period is 205-217 days, which is longer than the period for white-tail deer. Almost seven months after breeding, the female will give birth to one young called a porcupette. April, May and June are the months when the young are born, with this wide variation due to the breeding season being so long in the fall. Although there is a long breeding season, it is reported that up to one half of all adult females can go unmated in any given year.
Due to the long gestation period, the young porcupine is one of the largest animals at birth in comparison to the mother’s body. At birth, a young porcupette, which will weigh about one pound and measure approximately twelve inches in length, has eyes open, incisor teeth well developed and is fully furred and quilled. The quills are about one quarter of an inch long, soft and flexible and will dry within the hour, at which time the young porcupette is able to defend itself.
A few days after being born a young porcupette can climb a tree and also eat the bark and cambium layers of a tree. The female will continue to nurse the young for several weeks; however, the mother and young will have separated by fall.
Our porcupine is known as the Canadian porcupine because it inhabits large areas of northern North America, including Canada. The porcupine belongs to the Rodentia family, which also includes mice, squirrels, beaver, etc. The name porcupine comes from two Latin words, porcus, meaning swine, and spina, meaning thorn. The scientific name is Erethizon dorsatum, which means "the irritable back.”
A porcupine can weigh nine to 20 pounds. It is covered with 30 to 35 thousand quills over its body, except for face and stomach. The length of these quills, which are between one to four inches in length, vary as to the part of the body they grow.
The quills are highly polished. Each quill has a barb similar to a fish hook that causes its removal to be quite painful. If a quill is lodged in the flesh, the actions of the victim’s muscles engage the barb, drawing the quill inward as much as an inch a day. This can become fatal as the quills pierce vital organs. If a porcupine loses a quill, replacement growth will begin within two days. This new quill grows at a rate of one half millimeter per day, and the growth can continue for two to eight months. When fully developed there will be a closure at the base of the quill so that no bleeding occurs when the porcupine uses the new quill.
And under all those quills, the porcupine has stiff hair
When a porcupine is not alarmed its quills will lay flat on its back; however, once danger is detected, the quills stand erect, and the porcupine immediately turns its back on approaching danger. The tail, which is between six to eight inches long, is the business end and always kept towards danger. Porcupines cannot throw their quills; however, if a person were to reach down to touch the animal, the tail would be flailed and the intruder would end up with 12 -15 quills in the hand.
The porcupine walks flat-footed, with a top speed of about two miles per hour, which is the reason that many are hit by vehicles.
A porcupine’s front and back feet have long curved claws that are used for climbing trees. The back feet have broad soles covered with small bumps that also lend traction when climbing trees.
The porcupine has four large incisor teeth for cutting and gnawing. These incisor teeth are always growing; however, the porcupine’s diet keeps wearing the incisor’s down. The large incisor teeth enable the porcupine to eat aluminum signs, cans, plastic, salt, grease, soap, and glue in plywood, pressure treated wood, animal bones and deer antlers. In one night, a porcupine can eat one pound of food.