Anthony's Porcupine Web page 

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Description
Its body length is 20-25" long, the tail is 6-12" long, depending on if it is adult or baby.  Western porcupines are yellow, Eastern porcupines are dark brown to black.  This is just a picture of a porcupine to show you what it looks like.
Habitat
It lives in Alaska, Canada, New England, and the Rocky Mountains.  It likes pine and leafy forests, in the East, and dry bush areas in the West.  The left picture is a picture of a wetland that a porcupine may have as its habitat.  The right picture is a picture of a porcupine on the top of a tree.  It is probably hiding from an enemy, because they usually hide in high places when they are in danger. 

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Range
This is a picture of the places the porcupine likes to live. Areas includes parts of Alaska and Canada, parts of western U.S., and south to Mexico. By looking at this picture you know that the porcupines are found in lots of places. 

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Food
The porcupine eats vegetables, of all kinds of grain, and flowers.  Fruit and roots are their main food.  It eats the bark and leaves on trees during the winter. It eats plants, roots, stems, and seeds on the ground during summer.  This is a picture of a porcupine eating flowers. 

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Life Cycle 
Its life span of a porcupine in the wild is from 6-10 years.  It can be 10-15 years if the porcupine is very healthy.  The weight of a newborn porcupine is usually 14 ounces.  They are born with their eyes open, and they are able to walk.  Within a few days, they are able to climb trees.  The gestation period averages 210 days, and usually one young is produced (rarely twins).  It will take three to four years before they become the actual adult size.   

 

Important Factors
The porcupine needs food, water and shelter to survive.  This is a picture of plants that the porcupine likes to eat.

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Facts
1.  The quills on a porcupine are actually modified hairs.

2.  The quills on the back have a very keen sense of smell and intelligence in evading traps.

3.  The average adult porcupine has about 30,000 quills.

4.  A porcupine can shoot their quills at an enemy, but the quills don't go very far.

This is a picture of the front of a porcupine, to show you how big the quills on a porcupine can be.

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Human Impact
Well a lot of people have porcupine for dinner.  People's dogs try to attack porcupines, but the porcupines can shoot their quills at them.  Mountain Lions, bobcats, coyotes, fishers, and weasels also hunt the porcupine.  Mosquitoes, black flies,  and gnats drive porcupines into the treetops.  This is a picture of people skinning and otter.  It's an example of the human impact on porcupines. 

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List of Resources for pictures of Porcupines

www.geocities.com/RainForest/ 4076/index7.html
www.psiaz.com/polakis/skyphoto/ landscape.html
hotcakencyclopedia.com/
www.bcadventure.com/adventure/ wilderness/animals/porcup.htm
www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2001/ 06.07/25-divstudent.html
tubes.ominix.com/ art/a/flowers/
www.sfws.auburn.edu/.../Course%20Pages/ 6291/range_maps.htm
www.chevroncars.com/.../ index.jhtml?mediaUrl=020709.html

 

 

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For comments or questions contact Bill Wight at billw@sbschools.net