No, the North American porcupine is not found in Florida and many other Southern regions of United States such as Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama. Though it can be found in some southern parts of Texas and New Mexico, it is largely absent in most southern states.

The Black dwarf porcupine can be found in the south of lower Amazon area. The Mexican hairy porcupine can be found in south Mexico all the way to Panama. The bicoloerd-spine porcupine can be found in the Andean foothills of Colombia south to Peru, Bolivia. The streaked dwarf porcupine can be found in east Ecuador and northern parts of Peru. Bahia dwarf porcupine in south-eastern Brazil. Other breeds that can be found in South America are: Brazilian, Frosted dwarf, Rothschild’s, Roosmalen’s dwarf, Stump-tailed, Paraguay dwarf and Brown Dwarf.

 

 

 

 

Porcupines are by nature nocturnal creatures. That does not mean that you cannot spot a porcupine in the daytime. Sometimes the African Porcupine can be seen in daytime. Porcupines walking around in daytime usually have some business to attend to, be it migration or mating. Porcupines mate in autumn time. The porcupine will stand on it hind legs and make whining, moaning or grunting noises. A male porcupine will drench his desired female in his urine. If the female takes to the male, she will stand on her hind legs and allow the male to embrace her. She leads the way by raising her tail and disarming her quills, allowing the male safe excess. North American porcupines breed only once every year.

Pregnant female porcupines carry their babies in the womb for 7 months. Baby porcupines are born fully equipped with a full set quills and eyes open. One female usually bares one baby porcupine. Baby porcupines can chew their own within a week but are also fed milk too. They hang around their mothers for about 4 to 5 months before moving on themselves. Porcupines are usually solitary creatures. Sometimes they come together for a feast in summer and in winter where they hang out in dens among rocks.

 

Contrary to popular belief, porcupines cannot shoot its quills at a distance. When the porcupine is ready to strike, it will flex its tail, fanning its quills out, thrashing its tail back and forth. The shaking motion releases their quills which are located at their sides, back and legs. The quills are easily detached upon contact and are connected to the porcupine’s hind muscles. The microscopic barbs on the tip of the quills drive deeper into the victim’s flesh once lodged. The shortest quills are more deadly as they tend to get deeper into the flesh to hit vital parts.

Porcupine quills are longest on the buttocks and shortest on the cheeks. Quills are hollow with stiff hairs and a barbed tip. Each quill can measure up to 3 inches in length. The porcupine has other types of hairs such as the underfur and guard hair. The underfur is the finest coat and keeps the porcupine well-insulated. The guard hairs are longer and coarser hairs (about 4 inches) that grows over the underfur. It serves as protective layer for the back and tail.

The crested porcupine is found in Italy and North Africa. It has a special type of quill that rattles when the porcupines vibrates them. The porcupine warns its predators that it will launch its quills if it’s provoked further. Another way a porcupine warns an approaching threat is to chatter its teeth repeatedly to produce an offending odor. Similar to the skunk’s black/white stripes, the porcupine’s stark black and white pattern is a warning sign to their predators. Most predators avoid the dangerous porcupine but the American Fisher has learnt to deal with the quills by flipping them over to attack their faces or belly.

Other predators of the porcupine include the wolverine, bobcat and puma.

Porcupines are considered to be exotic pets as they are wild animals not conventionally owned as pets. In Canada it is perfectly fine to own a porcupine as a pet. However, it is illegal to own a porcupine in California and some other states in America. In Utah, New York and many other American states, a porcupine is classified under the ‘uncontrolled’ category of animals. Thus, you may own a porcupine as a pet. In the occasion where you wish to breed your porcupines, you should obtain a license from The Department of Wildlife or Fish and Game.

Porcupines make interesting pets if your state allows it. The famous Teddy Bear the talking porcupine won over 7,700 Facebook fans! Teddy Bear responds to his owner in cute ewok sounds while nibbling on food. Pokey the porcupine is with an Animal rental company. This company brings the animals on show, teaching the audiences how to pet a porcupine without getting hurt. Porcupines are known to show affection to humans when they are fed and tamed. There are many accounts of porcupines acting like a cat or dog would—asking for snuggle time, certain favorite foods and lots of attention.

It is not advisable to introduce an older, untamed porcupine to your household cats or dogs. The porcupine could get defensive. There are stories of porcupines being great friends with cats and dogs but that’s when the porcupine is introduced to the family when it’s very young.

Porcupines are large nocturnal rodents with a small head and a body covered with quills. The quills are sharp, thick needle-like hairs that porcupines use as a defense mechanism against advancing predators. These quills also have air ducts in between that help the porcupine to stay afloat and swim. A total of 30,000 quills are on the porcupine’s back, sides, and tail. The quills are barbed and remain stuck on the predator which can be both painful and deadly. Porcupines are benevolent creatures and not known to readily attack people or animals; they attack only when they deem as a life threatening situation. Do not wait to seek medical attention as soon as possible if someone or pet you know is ever attacked by a porcupine. Not only will it be painful, the quills have to be taken out correctly to minimize further damage to the skin and organs.

Porcupines do not hibernate in winter or otherwise. However, they sleep more regularly and remain close to their dens and shacks come winter. Porcupines are very active creatures. They tend to be more active at night, making them nocturnal creatures. In summer, they forage and nap high up in the trees. Their diet in summer comprises of stems, berries, fruits, branches and shoots. In winter, they will gnaw at pine/conifer needles as well as tree barks. During sever winter, the usually solitary porcupine may choose to den up with its mates. Their home terrain could be as broad as 25-35 acres.

Porcupines are active all year round without exception. They like to scout for food and often travel long distances in search of food. The porcupine’s diet is mainly vegetarian: tree leaves, bark, twigs, branches and inner tree barks. It likes herbs and fallen tree branches. Woody trees like aspen, cottonwood, willow, and pine are its favorites. Porcupines prefer smooth and thin chewable bark which it finds more appetizing. Porcupines are viewed as a pests by some as it will gnaw on trees and vegetation, sometimes damaging private property by it’s desire for chewing. Dog owners fear their dogs running into a porcupines and getting attacked by their fearsome quills.

Porcupines are otherwise rather cute, as they waddle when they walk and whine like a baby. They are not vicious unless provoked or threatened. Porcupines are found everywhere of the world. The North American porcupine can be found in western to Northern North American and even in the coniferous forests of Canada. Porcupines will explore from prairie rivers, alpine tundra and even deserts. When porcupines sleep in daytime, they prefer to slumber among fallen timber, rock clusters and caves. They like places that are cool and comfortable, away from strong afternoon sun and wandering predators.

Many porcupines live in trees. Other porcupines find refuge in caves, hollow logs and old buildings. The North American porcupine lives in Canadian and Northern American and Mexican woods and grasslands. Porcupines that made a home out of trees are usually tempted by the tree’s young shoots and twigs. Some of them prefer to live on trees to avoid their natural predators. Porcupines are known to climb tress at the first sign of danger. This is because most predators do not know how to climb. Porcupines are well adapted for tree-living as well. Their paws are strong and embedded with curved claws that help them climb trees. Their feet are textured for a better grip on tree branches and trunks. They also have a tail that helps them balance on trees. The porcupine will lift and lower its tail to help it feel its way down a tree. Porcupines have backward-pointing stiff hairs. These bristles help the porcupine to adhere itself on a tree trunk.

Porcupines are also the only North American mammal that has a special antibiotic coating on a layer of its skin. This antibiotic layer prevents possible infection at the event where the porcupine falls from a tree and gets pierced by his own quills as it hits the ground. Accidents of these kinds are rather typical for the average tree-dwelling porcupines. Porcupines have poor eyesight but their acute sense of smell and hearing makes up for this short-coming.

Only 3 North American mammals have eye catching black and white coats—the skunk and wolverine and the porcupine. Due to their well-equipped defense mechanism, they have nothing to fear—giving away their position—even in the darkness of nighttime. Many predators know better than to approach a porcupine. An attack from a porcupine is really painfully and can be potentially fatal. Natural predators may try to strike the porcupine’s face to surprise or injure them. Next, they will spin them to their vulnerable unquilled underside. Predators who do so run the risk of being heavily quilled by the porcupine. The quills are very long, sharp and barbed so they are very difficult to remove.