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North American Porcupine
Erethizon dorsatum
53.5068, -113.579
Field Notes
Description:
The North American Porcupine is a large rodent usually black or dark brown with white highlights they have a large stocky body and have thick tails and small legs and feet. The adults normally have around 30,000 quills that cover their entire body with the exception of their face, feet, and underbelly. Most of the time they use their quills in defence but when threatened they contract the muscles close to the skin making the quills stand up on end making them easier to lodge in the flesh of the attackers these quills are painful to remove
Habitat:
The North American Porcupine resides in Alaska, Canada, and all the way to Northern Mexico. They are more commonly found in coniferous or mixed forests but have adapted to survive in more harsh areas such as deserts, shrubland, and the tundra. They will make their dens in rocky areas and hollow trees
Notes:
Also called the Canadian Porcupine the North American Porcupine is the only rodent native to North America that has antibiotics in it's skin which prevent infection when they fall out of the trees and stick themselves with their own quills. They apparently like to eat roses as well as it continually eats the rosebushes at the front of my house.
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