porcupine

a kind of animal – mammal – rodent – four-legged – plant-eating – nocturnal (= mostly active at night) – looks like a hedgehog (but not related) – round stocky body in grey, brown or rarely white with lot of rough (coarse) hair and some hairs are changed (modified) to thick sharp needle-like prickles called ‘quills’ that fall off easily, small head with small eyes and ears, blunt muzzle (= mouth and nose part), short neck, short legs with relatively large paws and sharp claws, (8-10) hairy tail; size: (varies widely) on average, 2-3 feet long with 10 inch tail, and weight: 5-15 Kg. (the smallest – 1 foot in length and 1 Kg. in weight; the largest 2-3 feet in length and 27 Kg. in weight; some individual can grow up to 30 Kg.); feeds on (eats) plant matter – leaves, twigs, fruit, vegetables, roots, tree bark, (chews on bones) and dead animals; lives for 5-14 years, depending on the species (some individuals live up to 20 years); about 27 species, found in Asia, Italy in Europe, Africa and North and South America

male ~~ male

female ~~ female

baby ~~ pup

group ~~ prickle; family

voice (call) ~~ {no particular name} moan, grunt, cough, wail, whine, shriek, tooth clicks

home ~~ den; burrow

movement ~~ waddle

There are two major kinds of porcupine: one is the ‘old world porcupine’ which lives on ground, and found in Asia, Africa and small parts of Europe; the other is the ‘new old porcupine’ which lives in trees, and found in North and South America.  And there are several species and sub-species in both kinds!

Special Features:

The porcupine is the third largest rodent in the world – the first being the ‘capybara’ and the second being the ‘beaver’.

The name ‘porcupine’ means “quill pig” or “thorny pig”!

The most striking feature of a porcupine is its “quills” which are modified hair.

The quills are hollow in the middle, needle-shaped, and can be raised when needed.  On average, a porcupine has about 30,000 quills.  In some species the quills can grow up to a foot in length.  These quills are sharp and can be dislodged (shed) when a predator (= animal which tried kill and eat it) tries to attack, i.e. when an other animal touches the porcupine, the porcupine turns its back to face the predator and on contact dislodges its quills into the flesh of that animal!!  And the prick of a quill is known to be very painful, and the infection could sometimes kill an animal, including lions and hyenas!

The native people of Africa and America use porcupine quills for jewellery, and very attractive decorative and useful things are made with these dangerous quills!

People have hunted porcupines for their meat for hundreds of years!

Porcupines make a rattling noise with tails to warn their predators, and they also swish them at the predators in order to prick them with the quills on the tail.

The tree-living porcupines of the Americas are without quills on the tail, and they use the tail as an extra hand (prehensile) while climbing the trees!

Mountain lions and fishers (cat-like animal) are some of the very few animals that can kill and eat the porcupines without getting hurt by the quills!

Porcupines are known to like salt, and they chew anything that has the touch of salt, including handles of tools, boat paddles, and even cables and wires – the most favoured being the bones of other dead animals, which they carry back to their dens or burrows!

Porcupines are said to be short-sighted, i.e. they can see things that are close to their eyes, but they are said to have good sense of hearing and smell!

In most species, male porcupines help the females in taking care of the pups, which feature, some animal experts say, is unusual in rodents!!

Figures of Speech:

1.       

(a)  a machine with spikes for hackling flax (‘flax’ = a fine fibre, strings of thread, from a plant stems)

(b)   a wire rope with loose wires at the cut edges (hawser)

2.

to have more points than a porcupine  =  (?) to be alert and to be ready to take unfair gains from a situation

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