Not sure what's going on with my frame of mind lately. Case in point, yesterday I watched an episode of "Little Bear" with my kids in which Little Bear and Duck encounter a porcupine who is friendly, of course, but who doesn't understand why her new friends don't want to get too close to her while playing (you can find out how it ends here). Anyway, it got me thinking...is a porcupine's fur really that sharp? Where do porcupine's live? What do porcupine's eat? Along with a bunch of other porcupine questions that, for some reason, to which I felt the need to find answers. So, this evening, after the family turned in for the night, I did a little porcupine research. So, here we go...
- A Porcupine's hair is actually soft, however, it's mixed with sharp quills on their back, sides and tail. Some species have quills up to a foot long! The quills are usually tame unless aggravated by a threat. And, no, porcupines cannot shoot their quills. That myth is reserved only for cartoons and YouTube videos.
- Its latin name translates to "quill pig"
- Porcupines live in forests, deserts, rocky outcrops, hillsides and grasslands across North and South America, as well as some parts of Asia, Europe and Africa.
- They are the 3rd largest rodent, behind only the Beaver and Capybara.
- Porcupines feed on roots, tubers, bark and fallen fruit, but also have a fondness, for cultivated root crops such as cassava, potatoes and carrots. Some have been known to prefer a diet of wood, such as tree bark. Still other species have a taste for natural salt in salt-rich plants, fresh animal bones, and, again, tree bark.
These are just a few common Porcupine facts I picked up via the Internet. If you want to learn more about these unique creatures, try this site. Seems to have a lot of good information.
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