STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Another week of snow, ice and road closures!!  Plan B, I am perusing through my archives and came across I nice trip I took several years ago at Worthington State Forest.  I began at Douglass Parking area along the Delaware River.  I took Garvey Springs Trail up to the Appalachian Trail, the two trails meet just north of Sunfish Pond.  It was early Spring, so I had a nice view of Sunfish Pond through the trees and decided to follow the AT going north about a mile to Raccoon Ridge.  Raccoon Ridge is a famous birding location offering spectacular views in all directions!!  Hiking along the Appalachian Trail by the powerline rite-of-way I notice a small object in the trees just off the powerlines. “What is that?”  Took a couple of photos, ZOOM in and then noticed a little movement. Now I started looking through the trees and came across another object, and this was just off the powerline rite-of-way going down the hill.  Think I have found my photo of the week article!!

OBSERVATION:  Speaking for myself, in general, you don’t really see a lot of porcupines!!  I have had several encounters, running across the road during day or night but never able to get a photo. After I started my research for this article, I began to realize just how interesting and unique these animals are!  Hope you enjoy this article as much as I did researching same!  MOTHER NATURE & WILDLIFE always amazes me!!

INTRODUCTION

The common porcupine is the only North American species of porcupine. Worldwide, there are twelve.

The outstanding feature of these large, heavy-set rodents is their body covering, which is formed by spines with small overlapping barbs.  Their feet are made for a life in the trees.  The solitary creature is active year-round, though in bitter cold it may den up in a hole in a rocky bluff, sometimes with others of its species.  It is primarily nocturnal, resting by day amid rocky bluffs, in hollow trees or logs, underground burrows or in a treetop.  They are excellent, albeit slow and deliberate climbers. 

NOTE:  They are described as excellent climbers, yet, the animal occasionally falls. About 35% percent of museum skeletons examined showed healed fractures!

On the ground, it has an unhurried, waddling walk, relying on its quills for protection against more agile predators, although it prefers to retreat or ascend a tree rather than confront an enemy.  It has long claws, an adaptation for climbing, as they hold on to crevices in the bark.  Stiff, backward-pointing quills of the underside of the tail keep the porcupine from slipping back down a tree.  The tail is repeatedly lifted and lowered as the animal descends, serving as an exploratory organ.  There are about 30,000 quills on its body;  these are modified hairs, solid at the tip and base, hollow for most of the shaft and loosely attached to a sheet of voluntary muscles beneath the skin.  They are not aggressive if left alone, so if you are fortunate enough to come across one in a close encounter, just enjoy, observe and keep your distance!! 

Porcupines are strict vegetarians, feeding on leaves, twigs and such green plants as skunk cabbage, lupines and clover in spring.  During winter, it chews through the rough outer bark of various trees to get at the inner bark, on which it mainly subsists.  Like many herbivores, porcupines have bacteria in its digestive tract containing enzymes that help digest the cellulose and other substances not sufficiently broken down by normal digestive enzymes.  Porcupines gain weight in the summer and then begin to lose weight in the fall.  Porcupines have a life span of seven to eight years.

DESCRIPTION:  Large, chunky body with high arching back and short legs.  Length: 26”-37” weight up to 40lbs.

The porcupine’s generic name means, “one who rises in anger”, and while a porcupine cannot throw its quills at an enemy, when in a conflict it erects them, lowers its head and lashes out with its tail.  If the tail strikes its attacker, the loosely rooted quills detach easily and are driven forcefully into the victim, whose body heat causes the microscopic barbs on the end of each quill to expand and become even more firmly embedded!!  These wounds may fester, or the quill, depending on where it enters, may blind the victim or prevent it from eating.  The short tail quills are the most dangerous and can be driven deeply into the flesh, if they strike a vital place, they may even cause death. 

OBSERVATION

A Porcupine, like other animals with specialized weaponry, does present this warning through imagery.  A black line runs up the middle of the tail and expands on the lower back, and there is white on the head.  This contrasting, ‘black-and-white’ “warning” pattern is not as obvious as that of a skunk, yet in the same way it apparently communicates to a potential advisory that it should keep its distance.  The porcupine attempts to keep the black-and-white warning colorations of its backside toward potential enemies.  If attack is imminent, it gives a second warning, tooth-chattering for up to half a minute, which may be repeated many times.  Last but not least, it can produce a strong, pungent odor, which in confined quarters such as a porcupine den can cause eyes and nose to water!  If all this fails, it will erect its quills!!

A few carnivores, notably the Fisher, are adept at flipping a porcupine over to attack its wiry-haired but unquilled underside, but even a Fisher occasionally receives a fatal injury!!  Other predators include the Mountain Lion, Bobcat and Coyote.

***IMPORTANT NOTE: Pet owners – KEEP IN MIND,  Cutting the end off of the hollow quill releases air pressure and allows it to be more easily withdrawn!!*** 

MATING:  The Common Porcupine mates mainly in October and November, it is most vocal at this time, giving a variety of squeaks, groans and grunts.  OBSERVATION, we have learned just how formidable their quills are to keep enemies AWAY!!  So here comes the ‘Million Dollar Question’

QUESTION:  How Do they Mate??

ANSWER: CAREFULLY, VERY CAREFULLY!!

All joking aside, porcupines mating occurs in the same fashion as with other mammals, BUT, (and this is an important BUT) not until the female is sufficiently aroused so that she relaxes her quills before raising her tail over her back and presenting herself.  Males may fight over females, and the courtship is elaborate.  Prior to mating, the male squirts high-pressure jets of urine over the female.  After a gestation of nearly seven months **an unusually long period for a rodent** the single young is born in May or June in a very precocious condition.  I see another ‘Million Dollar Question’ arising!!

QUESTION:  How does Momma make it through childbirth??

ANSWER:  The quills on the baby are well formed but not injurious to the mother, as the baby is born headfirst in a placental sac and its short quills are soft!!  They harden within a half hour after birth

NOTE:  On your hikes, keep in mind, porcupines have ‘favored’ feeding trees that can be recognized by their cropped and stunted upper branches and bare wood.  Another tell-tale sign of porcupine, often littering the ground under favorite trees, are “niptwigs”, terminal branches of trees that have been cut off and their leaves or buds eaten.

Enjoy Your Open Space

Charlie Fineran

Charlie Fineran is Allamuchy’s Director of Open Space, Allamuchy Township Environmental Commission Chairman and Allamuchy Historical Society President.