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Range and Habitat: Porcupines range throughout the northern
U.S. and Canada, down to northern Mexico. Occasionally seen in
desert or prairies, but most often in forests, both coniferous
and deciduous.
Habits and Adaptations: Porcupines are primarily nocturnal,
wandering in search of food at night. Porcupines are well adapated
to life in trees. Their claws are long and strong, and the soles
of their feet are rough and knobby for traction on the bark. The
undersurface of the tail is covered with stiff bristles which
brace the animal while climbing. In the winter, porcupines make
use of ground shelters such as caves, culverts, hollow logs and
brush piles during their sleep periods. They are active during
the winter, often digging snow tunnels to and from their dens.
Diet: Their diet consists of tree bark, leaves, needles,
summer blossoms, berries and pond plants. They willingly enter
water in search of water lilies, their quills providing bouyancy.
Bones and antlers are also eaten as a source of minerals.
Breeding and Maturation: Between October and December
the male follows the female around, serenading her with grunts
and humming. When ready to mate, the pair will roll, tumble and
gently cuff one another. One kit is born each spring after a gestation
of 7 months (this number is not well documented though) with eyes
open, fully furred and quilled. The quills are soft and pliable
at birth and harden within a few hours.
Miscellaneous: Fishers are most adept at killing the porcupine.
They weaken it by biting the face until it can be flipped over.
Other predators may occasionally take the porcupine, but their
risk of injury is greater. Fishers are very important in controlling
the porcupine population. When fishers were trapped excessively
for their pelts, the porcupine numbers increased and heavy tree
loss resulted. Porcupines "girdle" or completely strip
the outer bark around the tree trunk.
American Indians used the porcupine as a source of food and adornment.
The hollow quills were woven into baskets and headdresses, and
cut sections were used like beads to decorate birch bark boxes,
mocassins and clothing.
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