Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
general have quite properly descended, porcupine bounties have mostly— and perhaps entirely—been
abandoned.
As already mentioned, porcupines are rodents—relatives of mice, squirrels, rabbits, and wood-
chucks. Moreover, the porky is a large rodent, second in size only to the beaver among its North Amer-
ican relatives. The normal weight for an adult porcupine ranges from fifteen to twenty pounds, but on
rare occasions a big male can reach as much as twenty-eight to thirty pounds. At that size, a porky up a
tree can, at a first hasty glance, be mistaken for a bear cub, although a second look will quickly correct
that error.
Like all other rodents, porcupines are noted for their gnawing—a trait that often gets them in trouble,
especially during times of overpopulation. All rodents have four incisors, two in the upper jaw and two
in the lower. A porcupine's incisors are large and sharp, just right for cutting through tree bark to get at
the tender inner layer, or for demolishing anything that contains traces of salt; their incisors also pos-
sess the interesting quality of being orange in color.
A porcupine's normal diet is apt to be deficient in salt, a lack that causes it to seek out anything that
can remedy the deficiency. Certain types of plants, natural salt licks, and—more recently—the residue
from winter salting of roads to melt snow and ice are as eagerly consumed by porcupines as fresh fruit
and vegetables once were by sailors suffering from scurvy. But although consumption of road salt may
benefit the porcupine's health, the interaction between porcupines and automobiles that often results
definitely does not—and many are the porkies that end up as roadkill because of it!
Although the inner bark of trees may be the porcupine's dietary staple in winter, these big rodents
consume a surprising variety of foods during the warmer months. Grasses, clover, buds, succulent water
plants, apples and other fruit, and a number of herbaceous plants, acorns, and raspberry shoots, among
others, are all grist for the porky's mill.
In winter, the porcupine's diet becomes far more limited. As already noted, the inner bark of trees
is a mainstay, but hemlock twigs are also a favored winter food throughout that tree's range. Indeed,
the presence of a porcupine can often be detected in winter by the large number of hemlock twigs and
small branches littering the snow beneath a prime feeding site. Buds of various hardwood species also
form an important component of the winter diet.
Favorite feed trees are usually easy to identify, especially if several porcupines live nearby. Branches
are apt to be stripped of foliage and small twigs, and large areas of bark are frequently removed. This
latter phenomenon can result in girdling and killing the tree, and thus a major overpopulation of porcu-
pines can seriously damage a forest.
The porcupine's fondness for salt, which amounts almost to an obsession, has already been noted.
This characteristic has done little to endear the prickly beasts to humans. Anything that contains traces
of salt from sweat is fair game for the porky: ax and other tool handles, canoe paddles, sweaty clothing,
gloves, and numerous other items are all eagerly consumed by the sodium-hungry creatures.
