Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
The list also includes a few rather bizarre items that might not readily come to mind, and thereby
hangs an amusing tale—although it didn't seem so amusing at the time. Our 1854 farmhouse had a
privy (no longer in use) attached to the house in an enclosed corner of the side porch. At the time we
bought the house, in the early 1960s, Vermont's overpopulation of porcupines was at its height, and
encounters with porkies were frequent.
One night my wife and I were awakened from deep slumber by the sounds of great and terrible
munching, as if an entire army of rats and mice had descended on us and were consuming our dwelling.
On investigation, we found that a porcupine had somehow gotten in under the base of the outhouse,
climbed the ten feet or so to the top, and was contentedly chewing away, getting its ration of salt from
the seats of the two-holer!
Nor is that the end of the list of strange things that porcupines gnaw for their salt. People hiking the
Appalachian Trail from Vermont's Lincoln Mountain have sometimes returned to find their automo-
biles disabled because porcupines gnawed through various hoses coated with winter road salt. Indeed,
signs there have even warned motorists about this potential hazard.
Few things in the natural world seem to elicit as much mildly ribald speculation and comment as the
mating habits of the porcupine: How do they “do it”? Frequently the question is rhetorical, followed by
the rather hackneyed answer, “Carefully, very carefully.”
Actually, it's only humans, not porcupines, who make a big deal of all this. When mating time
arrives in early autumn, males begin to act uncharacteristically aggressive toward each other, threaten-
ing movements and gestures are made, and occasional fights may even ensue. Once a male has estab-
lished dominance, he may mate with more than one female.
When the actual moment of mating arrives, imagination far outstrips reality; contrary to much rumor
and folklore, the whole affair is remarkably simple. The female porky stands on all fours, flattens her
quills (remember that the quills are movable), raises her hindquarters, and moves her tail to one side.
Presented with such an inviting opportunity, the male mounts her from the rear without the slightest
discomfort. Voilà! Mission accomplished.
An extraordinarily long gestation period, at least for a mammal of the porcupine's rather modest size,
follows—a full seven months. By comparison, a coyote's gestation is only about two months, and that
of the beaver just over four months.
In yet another display of their highly individual qualities, porcupines bear only a single young each
year. However, the little porky weighs a solid pound at birth, which is a lot of baby for a younger, smal-
ler female that may only weigh twelve pounds or so.
This lone baby, born in April or May, is known by the thoroughly delightful name of
porcupette.
Its
eyes are open at birth, and it has a full complement of tiny quills that it seems to know instinctively
how to use. The quills present no difficulties during birth, since they're very soft, but they dry quickly,
and the porcupette rapidly becomes armed and dangerous.
