A porcupine may use the quills to help attempt to ward off a potential predator while also helping to make itself as unappealing and as intimidating as possible to surrounding predators.Ī porcupine may also grunt, hiss, click its teeth together, or even stomp on the ground in an attempt to ward off a potential predator or attacker. The quills on a porcupine are there to help protect the rodent in times of distress and in the event of an unwarranted attack. When you think of a porcupine, you may conjure up an image of a porcupine with spiky quills that stand straight up from its back. When a porcupine is held in captivity, however, it has the potential to reach a lifespan of up to 21 years or more. On average, a porcupine that is found living in the wild will live anywhere from 5 to 7 years, depending on the environment it is living in as well as its surrounding conditions. The average gestation period for a porcupine is approximately 3 months, or around 112 days altogether.īaby porcupines are dubbed as ‘pocupettes’, and will reach maturity between 1 and 2 years of age. On average, a female porcupine will birth between one and four porcupine young in total. See also Coyote Packs: How Big? How Do They Function Together? MatingĪlthough the porcupine is considered solitary and is far from the most social of animals and rodents throughout the animal kingdom, it will still mate with other porcupines when the time is right.
Typically, however, porcupines are viewed as solitary and prefer to live and work alone unless socialization and interacting with other porcupines is completely necessary. Porcupines are not known to be particularly social animals, although they are not opposed to pairing up with other porcupines (for New World porcupines). On the other hand, Old World porcupines will typically prefer to remain low to the ground while searching for a suitable meal. New World porcupines are most likely to find themselves climbing upwards and spending their time in trees while searching for food. When searching for food, it is important to note that both New World and Old World porcupines will differ in their habits and behaviors. Most porcupines choose to search and scrounge for food during the night, when this is the safest time for porcupines to escape potential predators and become prey themselves. This means that porcupines prefer to remain active and awake throughout the night while sleeping and hibernating their days away. What are the sleeping habits of porcupines?Ī porcupine is considered a nocturnal animal. Although there are technically two different types of porcupines known today, there are many differences between the two types. There are two major types of porcupines known to man today: the Old World (Hystricidae) porcupine as well as the New Work (Erethizontidae) porcupine. However, some porcupines do not mind having more land to themselves, and can have a home range that expands up to 200 acres in total. Porcupines are not classified as territorial animals. The special sense of smell that porcupines have allows them to easily travel while still knowing where their home is and where their safe habitats are located. Porcupines have terrible vision, but make up for this lack of vision with their impressive sense of smell. While the porcupine is not likely responsible for the death of another animal, it may chew or gnaw on the animal’s bones as an additional source of salt. In some instances, you may come across a porcupine that is gnawing on the bones of a carcass or dead animal. Porcupines are also extremely attracted to salt, and can be found finding their way into salt mines and locations where salt is dense. They also enjoy some berries, bark, stems, and other natural sources of wood, You can also find a porcupine chewing and licking salt. Porcupine herbivores prefer to find delicious vegetation such as leaves and various outdoor plants. Porcupines are not carnivores, but are instead natural nocturnal herbivores. In the wintertime and during the colder months of the year, porcupines can be found huddling with their family groups and preferred mates to keep warm and for additional protection. Some porcupines may live in monogamous pairs, while others may prefer to work in larger groups or live on their own in solitude. These family groups work together to create tunnel and burrow systems for protection and housing year-round, depending on the climate and region the porcupines reside in. Many porcupines live in family groups of five to six additional porcupines.
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