Porcupine is difficult to confuse with any other animal. This prickly miracle of nature is familiar to everyone since childhood due to its extraordinary appearance. What kind of animal is a porcupine? Where he lives, what he eats, how he reproduces - all this will be discussed in this article.
Description
Porcupines are a whole family of rodents, including 5 genera. These amazing creatures can grow up to a meter in length, although the average size usually does not exceed 50-60 cm. The weight is 8-12 kg, but it happens that especially large individuals reach 27 kg.
Wool - gray-brown, needles can be much lighter. A completely white porcupine, the photo of which is presented below, is a rarity; there are practically no albinos among them. The absence of melanin deprives the animal of its protective coloration, thereby reducing its chances of survival.
Porcupine's quills are his modified hair. They can grow up to 50 cm in length and up to 7 mm in diameter. There are about 30 thousand needles on the body of this rodent, when one falls out, another immediately grows. Contrary to popular belief, shootthe porcupine does not know how to use quills.
The muzzle of the animal and the stomach are covered with dense thick hair, there is a brush of short needles on the tail.
Porcupine legs are thick and short. The front ones have 3 or 4 fingers, the back ones have 5, on each of them a strong black claw grows. The porcupine walks slowly, waddling from side to side, and only in case of danger does it switch to an awkward gallop, which you cannot look at without smiling.
Habitat
What natural areas does the porcupine prefer? Where does this extravagant rodent live? Representatives of porcupines inhabit North and South America, Southeast and Central Asia, Europe, they are also distributed on the African continent. One or another species can be found in tropical rainforests, and in savannahs, and in deserts, and even high in the mountains.
Lifestyle
The porcupine leads a predominantly nocturnal life, and during the day it prefers to hide in rock crevices, caves, in abandoned burrows of other animal species, or sit in its own lair.
He does not fall into hibernation, but his activity at this time is significantly reduced. He waits out the cold, sitting in his home.
The porcupine hole is a whole underground labyrinth with several rooms, numerous corridors and otnorka. In such a dwelling there are from 2 to 4 exits. The length of the passages is up to 10 m, the depth of the hole is up to 4 m.
Is the porcupine so well protected? Where the lion pride or other large predators live, it is not safe for him to be. In nature, these rodents have many natural enemies: onthey are hunted by bears, leopards, tigers, wolves, coyotes, lynxes. When confronted with a predator, the porcupine raises its quills on its back, stomps loudly and makes a puffing sound: it stops someone, it doesn’t.
Food: what do porcupines eat
The diet of the hero of the article consists of the fruits of both cultivated and wild plants, roots, tubers, berries, cereals. In the cold season, the porcupine eats the bark and young shoots of trees, causing significant damage to plants.
This large rodent is not particularly afraid of people and often settles near agricultural land. A cunning beast - a porcupine: where a person lives, there must be a lot of food. It causes significant damage to corn and sorghum crops, likes to visit orchards, but especially often visits melon plantations, where it feasts on pumpkins and melons.
In search of food, these animals lay entire food routes, moving away from the hole at a distance of up to 10 km.
It is surprising that porcupines eat not only plant foods, but small insects and their larvae are present in their diet. Their teeth grow throughout their lives, constantly sharpening. To replenish the missing trace elements, they often gnaw on the tusks of dead elephants.
Reproduction and longevity
Porcupines create monogamous pairs and live in a hole with entire families. Each such colony has its own territory with a radius of about 2 km, on which there are several holes or natural shelters.
Feeding female and male near each otherfriend. Strengthening relationships in a pair is facilitated by frequent sniffing, as well as regular mating, even if the female is carrying offspring or has recently given birth.
Pregnancy in a porcupine lasts about 110-115 days. The female gives birth to 1 to 5 cubs, more often in spring. In warm areas, the season does not matter, where porcupines can bring offspring up to 3 times a year.
Newborn babies have soft and flexible needles that take a few days to harden. The mother feeds them with her milk from 2 weeks to 3 months, then they completely switch to plant-based food.
The approximate life span of a porcupine in nature is about 10 years. They are often the prey of large mammals. How long a porcupine lives in captivity can be said for sure: an inhabitant of the Prague Zoo named Ferdinand celebrated his 30th birthday in 2011.
Interesting facts
- Some species of porcupine make a sound like a rattlesnake when threatened. Imitating the chatter characteristic of this dangerous reptile, they scare away uninvited guests from their hole.
- If this prickly rodent realizes that it is impossible to escape from a predator, it turns its back to the enemy and runs backwards, substituting its long and dangerous needles right in the offender's face.
- Porcupine teeth are very hard and strong. It can even cut through steel wire.
- Porcupines are great at climbing trees. Sitting high on the branches, they eat bark and young green shoots. It is interesting to observe how slowly and busily chewsa porcupine perched on a tree. Photos of this kind cause an involuntary smile.
- All porcupines are excellent swimmers. On the surface, their famous needles help them to stay: hollow inside, they create something like a life buoy, allowing the animal to quickly and deftly overcome water obstacles.
