The porcupine has always been considered an annoying, disagreeable – animal. In fact, even Shakespeare described it that way. In Hamlet, there is the line: “Like quills upon the fretful porcupine.”

Actually, the porcupine is quite a harmless animal, who simply likes to be let alone. During the winter, it curls up in a hollow log or cave and sleeps most of the time. In the summer, it moves slowly through the woods in search of bark, twigs, roots, and leaves of trees and shrubs.

Porcupines can be found in Europe, Africa, India, and South America as well as in our own country and Canada. The American species of porcupine is nearly 1 meter long and weighs from 7 to 13 kilograms. Its quills are about 18 centimeters long and yellowish-white, with black tips. The quills grow among the softer hairs of the porcupine, and consist of a shaft with a hard point.

When the porcupine is born, the quills are fine and silky. It takes them several weeks to thicken into hard quills. When a porcupine is attacked, it bristles up its coat of quills and curls into a bristling ball.

These quills are fastened rather loosely into the body of the porcupine. Since the porcupine will sometimes swing its tail into the face of an enemy, the quills come out easily during such an action. This is what has made people think a porcupine “shoots” its quills. It doesn’t. They just fly out.

The porcupine usually sleeps during the day and comes out to feed at night. It uses its long, sharp claws to climb trees, and then it sits on a limb to gnaw away at the bark and twigs. It crams bark, twigs, leaves, all into its mouth at once. Because of its liking for bark, the porcupine does much damage to forests. A single porcupine has been known to kill 100 trees in a winter!

Another strong liking the porcupine has is for salt. It will walk boldly into camps and gnaw any article that has been touched by salt or even by perspiring hands!