Porcupine is difficult to confuse with any other animal. This prickly miracle of nature has been 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 breeds - all of this will be discussed in this article.
Description
Porcupines - a whole family of rodent detachment, including 5 genera. These amazing creatures can grow up to a meter long, although the average size usually does not exceed 50-60 cm. Weight is 8-12 kg, but it happens that especially large individuals reach 27 kg.
The coat is gray-brown, the needles can be much lighter. A completely white porcupine, the photo of which is presented below, is a rarity, there are practically no albino among them. The absence of melanin deprives the animal of a protective color, thereby reducing its chances of survival.
Porcupine needles are his modified hair. They can grow up to 50 cm in length and up to 7 mm across. On the body of this rodent, about 30 thousand needles, with the loss of one immediately grows another. Contrary to popular belief, a porcupine does not know how to shoot with needles.
The muzzle of the animal and the stomach are covered with dense thick hair, on the tail there is a brush of short needles.
Porcupine legs are thick and short. The front has 3 or 4 fingers, the back - 5, on each of them grows a strong black claw. A porcupine walks, slowly, waddling from side to side, and only in case of danger switches to a clumsy gallop, which you cannot look at without a smile.
Habitat
What natural areas does porcupine prefer? Where does this extravagant rodent live? Representatives of porcupines inhabit North and South America, Southeast and Central Asia, Europe, they are also spread on the African continent. This or that species can be found in tropical rainforests, and in savannas, and in deserts, and even high in the mountains.
Lifestyle
Porcupine leads mainly nightlife, and during the day prefers to hide in rocky crevices, caves, abandoned burrows of other species of animals, or sit in its own den.
He does not fall into hibernation, but his activity at this time is significantly reduced. He waits for the cold, sitting in his home.
The porcupine hole is an entire underground labyrinth with several rooms, numerous corridors and snouts. In such a dwelling there are from 2 to 4 exits. The length of the strokes is up to 10 m, the depth of the hole is up to 4 m.
Is porcupine so well protected ? Where the lion pride or other large predators lives , it is not safe for him to be. In nature, these rodents have many natural enemies: they are hunted by bears, leopards, tigers, wolves, coyotes, lynxes. In a collision with a predator, a porcupine raises its needles on its back, stomps loudly and makes a puffing sound: it stops someone, someone does not.
Nutrition: what 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, porcupine eats up bark and young shoots of trees, causing significant damage to plants.
This large rodent is not particularly afraid of people and often settles close to agricultural land. A cunning beast is a porcupine: where a person lives, there should be a lot of food. It causes significant harm to the crops of corn and sorghum, likes to visit orchards, but especially often visits the plantations of melon, where it regales pumpkins and melons.
In search of food, these animals lay entire food routes, moving away from the hole to a distance of 10 km.
It is amazing that porcupines eat not only plant foods, small insects and their larvae are present in their diet. Their teeth grow all their life, constantly grinding. To make up for the missing trace elements, they often gnaw at the tusks of dead elephants.
Reproduction and longevity
Porcupines create monogamous pairs and live in burrows as whole families. Each such colony has its own territory with a radius of about 2 km, on which several burrows or natural shelters are located.
A female and a male feed close to each other. Strengthening relationships in a couple is facilitated by frequent sniffing, as well as regular mating, even if the female is bearing offspring or has recently given birth.
Porcupine pregnancy lasts about 110-115 days. The female gives birth to from 1 to 5 cubs, usually in the spring. In warm areas, the season does not matter, there porcupines can bring offspring up to 3 times a year.
Newborn babies have soft and flexible needles that harden only after a few days. Mother feeds them with her milk from 2 weeks to 3 months, then they completely switch to plant food.
The approximate life of a porcupine in nature is about 10 years. They are often the prey of large mammals. How much porcupine lives in captivity, we can say for sure: the inhabitant of the Prague Zoo nicknamed Ferdinand in 2011 celebrated his 30th anniversary.
Interesting Facts
- Some species of porcupines make a sound in danger, reminiscent of a rattlesnake crackling. Mimicking the chatter characteristic of this dangerous reptile, they scare away uninvited guests from their burrows.
- If this thorny rodent realizes that he cannot escape from the predator, he turns his back to the enemy and runs backwards, substituting his long and dangerous needles directly into the face of the offender.
- Porcupine's teeth are very hard and strong. He is able to bite even steel wire.
- Porcupines climb trees perfectly. Sitting high on the branches, they eat the bark and young green shoots. It is interesting to observe how a porcupine settled on a tree chews slowly and busily. Photos of this kind evoke an involuntary smile.
- All porcupines are excellent swimmers. Their famous needles help them stay on the surface: hollow inside, they create something like a lifebuoy, allowing the animal to quickly and deftly overcome water obstacles.