General Information

The North American porcupine was common throughout the northern parts of Ohio up until the 1890s when deforestation pushed them out of the area. Recently, there have been occasional sightings of porcupines in Northeast Ohio. Many people suspect that porcupines are moving back into Ohio from the neighboring state of Pennsylvania, a state in which they are abundant.

These porcupines prefer to live in forested areas and will spend their day hanging out in trees or in dens that they make out of hollow logs or rocky caverns. Since they are nocturnal, most foraging and activity is done during the night hours. But, they can occasionally be seen out during the day as well. North American porcupines are the only porcupine species that lives in the United States and Canada, and they are also the second largest rodent in North America, the largest being the beaver.

Male North American porcupines mate with many females and will fight with other males for a chance to breed with the female of their choice. To court a female, a male porcupine will first spray urine on the female to get her interested. When mating occurs, the porcupines will pull their skin tight and put their quills down, as not to hurt one another during the process. Only one young porcupine, called a “porcupette,” is born each year, usually during April or May. When they are born their quills are soft but quickly harden up within the next few hours. The young porcupine will stay with its mother and nurse during the next few months and will be independent and on its own by five months of age.

Meet Our Porcupine

Lancelot is the name of the North American porcupine who resides in the Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center & Woods Garden (presented by KeyBank) at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Lifespan

Wild: 5-7 years
Captivity: 15-20 years

Fun Facts

• North American porcupines have over 30,000 modified hairs called quills covering their bodies. The porcupine does not have the ability to “shoot” their quills but instead they release or loosen their quills and when they brush up against a predator the quills are released. Each of these quills contains up to 800 barbs that help anchor the quill in place in a predator’s skin. These barbs also expand with heat and the longer the quill is in a victim’s skin the harder it is to get the quill out.
• North American porcupines are nocturnal and they do most of their foraging for food at night. However, they have very poor eyesight so they use their great sense of smell to find most of their food
• The North American porcupine is the only mammal native to North America that has antibiotics in its skin. These antibiotics help prevent infection to the porcupine if it quills itself while falling off of a tree or other tall object.
• North American porcupines are herbivores. Their diet consists of twigs, bark, leaves, greenery, fruit and vegetables.