Porcupines deserve a better public perception. Not just "unappreciated," many people consider porcupines nuisances, even villains! Yet I've always found them charming.
Porcupines deserve a better public perception. Not just "unappreciated," many people consider porcupines nuisances, even villains! Yet I've always found them charming. I can't precisely explain that charisma, but maybe it will be revealed by sharing what makes them so interesting.
Let's start with the obvious. Most people are familiar with porcupines because of their quills. The typical porcupine has around 30,000 quills, and they grow everywhere except for their face, feet, and belly.
You might hate the idea of getting quills in your foot or your dog’s face, but quills are vital to porcupine protection and survival. Porcupines have poor eyesight and can’t move very fast, so they rely on their pointy armor to protect them from threats. And despite the common misconception, no, porcupines don’t “shoot” their quills. If you give a porcupine its space, you’ll be safe.
As effective as porcupine quills are, they do have downsides. A porcupine can stick itself with its own quills, causing injury. Then there’s mating. Porcupines have to take extra care to ensure that both partners come away unharmed.
Another porcupine misconception is that they only eat tree bark. It’s true that their winter diet consists of woody materials like bark and twigs, but they prefer to eat leaves, stems, and fruit when they’re in season.
Even so, winter feeding damage to trees is a big reason many landowners aren’t porcupine fans. This displeasure counts double if the trees damaged are sugar maples in a sugarbush (a stand of trees tapped for maple syrup). Feeding on the tree bark doesn't usually kill the tree, but it does deform branches, slows growth, and can set the stage for other infections.
Another source of conflict between porcupines and humans exists due to salt. Porcupines are more than simply attracted to salt; they are compelled to feed on it. And unfortunately, plywood is produced using salts they like very much. Porcupines will eat plywood and even other building materials that are in the way of accessing plywood. This type of damage to homes and outbuildings often requires high repair costs and can cause secondary problems like water damage.
Plywood isn't the only place porcupines find salt on our lands. Human sweat contains salt too, and it builds up on items we touch most often, resulting in destruction of such prized items as tool handles, wheelbarrows, and outhouse seats. I was amazed this summer to find the most extreme example of salt feeding that I've ever found – gnawing on the aluminum receiver of a clay pigeon launcher!
Rereading what I wrote, I realized I identified more negative attributes than positive ones. Ok, granted, porcupines aren’t our cuddliest wild neighbors. But that doesn’t change how I feel about them. For me, maybe the secret to porcupine charm isn’t in how they look, but in understanding their behavior and appreciating their uniqueness.
