Today we celebrate two packages of cards sent from The Prowling Cat. In honor of this selection of cardboard by our favorite blogging feline, we look at some interesting facts you may or may not already know about, you guessed it, Porcupines!!!
Even though porcupines are rodents, their Latin name "Erethizon dorsatum" means "quill pig".
Porcupines are nocturnal and are excellent climbers who spend most of their time in trees.
A porcupines quills are actually specialized hairs and there can be as many as 30,000 quills on a single porcupine.
The best way to remove a porcupine quill is to pull it straight out. The quills are delicate and can break easily, so be careful!
Baby porcupines are born with soft quills, which harden in about an hour.
A baby porcupines is called a porcupette.
Porcupines can not throw their quills. They have a muscle that can raise and lower them, but they can not fling them at a predator.
This video exsits:
(...Joe)
Never learned so much about porcupines so quickly.. and the video is great.. imagine having it jump into bed with you like a dog though ouch
ReplyDeleteLet's move the Rays to Nashville and call them the Quill Pigs.
ReplyDelete"Now batting for the Nashville Quill Pigs, porcupette, Hak-Ju Lee."
Sorry it's been a couple days. Love the post...
ReplyDelete