Porcupines Pass On Meat

Porcupines are herbivores.

Picture from NHPTV

Porcupines do not eat meat and feed mostly on leaves, pine-needles, herbs, twigs and the thin bark of trees.  They use their sharp and strong teeth to chew through tough wood and seeds. Their long incisors are used to tear into bark.

A Porcupines Defense Against It's Own Pricks

Porcupines are the only animal in North America with antibiotics in their skin.

Picture from Animals Town

On the occasion that a porcupine manages to stick itself with one of it's own quills, the antibiotic in it's skin will prevent infection.  Typically the quills lay flat until a porcupine is threatened, then leap to attention to act as a line of defense.

Backyard Nature - The Porcupine

The porcupine is the second largest rodent in North America behind the beaver. Its spiny quills, used for defense, make it a very recognizable creature and one not to be tormented. There are about 30 different species of porcupine throughout the world, with the common North American porcupine arriving around 3 million years ago.

North American porcupines primarily live in the coniferous forests located in the Northwest part of the continent. At up to 35lbs in weight they are quite large for a rodent and their eyesight is poor. They usually den in a rocky area or a hole in a tree, and in summer months they will often sleep in trees.

Porcupines have thousands of quills, which are spiny hairs that lay down most of the time but can be raised to protect the animal if it feels threatened. If struck, the quills easily detach from the porcupine’s body and can become lodged in the attacker. It has been documented that predatory animals such as wolves and fishers have actually died due to wounds from porcupine quills, most likely due to infection.

Porcupine quills

With such an effective defense system the porcupine has no need for the safety of a herd and can thus live a very solitary life. Primarily nocturnal, porcupines spend most nights eating twigs, roots, stems and vegetation in the summer months or pine needles and tree bark in the winter. Far from graceful, porcupines frequently fall out of trees. Being fairly heavy and tempted by vegetation on small branches, it is not uncommon for a porcupine to take a tumble. Luckily, the porcupine has antibiotics in its own skin to prevent infection if it’s stuck with one of its quills.

Porcupines have soft hair, but they have sharp quills mixed in on their back, sides and tail. The quills of Africa's crested porcupine can even grow up to a foot long.