Porcupines

I saw my first porcupine in the wild today, down by the bosque in north Albuquerque, NM. Bosque is spanish for forest, and in ABQ, the bosque means the dense cottonwood groves that line either side of the Rio Grande. Though porcupines are widespread across the continent, and the world, I had only ever spotted them in captivity. This one was as big as a medium sized dog; fortunately my dogs listened to me and didn't try to chase it. It was just getting to be dusk and he was scrounging for food next to the river's edge.

Porcupines are slow-moving rodents with sharp quills on their backs, found on every continent except Antarctica. Members of the Old World porcupine family are found in Africa, Europe and Asia, while New World porcupines are found in North, Central, and South America. The one I saw today was the North American porcupine, the only species found in the United States and Canada. Old World porcupines tend to be larger and have clusters of grouped spines.
New World porcupines are mostly smaller and have sigly-attached quills. This family spends most of its time in trees, as it is a great climber, and eats leaves, herbs, twigs and bark. The African porcupine doesn't climb and is often eaten in Kenya as well as its cousins in Vietnam and other southeast Asian countries.

Both families have several traits in common, most noticeably the long, sharp quills that cover their bodies. Some quills, like those of Africa's crested porcupine, can reach a foot long. The rodent uses these quills for defense - rattling the spines together to warn off potential predators, or charging backwards into the animal if the warning fails. Contrary to popular belief, the quills cannot be thrown or projected, though they are loosely attached. The quills can be difficult to remove as some are barbed. A North American porcupine can have 30,000 or more quills, and can grow back quills that have become detached. The quills are thought to have antibiotic properties associated with a free fatty acids coating that may help if the animal stabs itself with its own quill.

The name porcupine come from the Latin words porcus (pig) and spina (spine) so literally means spined pig, though it has no close relation to actual pigs. In the US the creature is often called a quill pig. Porcupines held the record for longest-lived rodent, with one making it 27 years, until 2002 when a naked mole-rat reached 28 years old. They live in a range of habitats from forests to deserts and on hillsides and rocky outcrops. The animals are usually nocturnal, but can sometimes be found moving around during the day.

Many native cultures have used the quills for needle work and as decorations.Lakota women would reputedly harvest the quills by tossing a blanket over a porcupine and gathering the quills stuck in the blanket. The difficulty of removing the quills from skin due to the tiny barbs have inspired better designs for modern hypodermic needles.