Did you know that when a porcupine loses his quills, he grows new ones to replace the old ones? Let’s find out what else is cool about this cute creature.
1. World’s biggest
The Cape porcupine is the world’s largest porcupine and mainly lives in southern Africa. An adult porcupine can weigh between 10 and 24kg and reach up to 81cm in length. Under all those quills, you’ll find that they are heavily built, with short legs and short tails.
2. Local names
The isiZulu name for a porcupine is ‘ingungumbane’ and in Afrikaans he is called an ‘ystervark’. In Sepedi he is called a ‘noko’ and in Tshivenda a ‘nungu’.
3. Shuffling
The porcupine normally walks slowly and shuffles as he moves along his path to find food or to hide out in his burrow. The shuffling sound when he walks mainly comes from the hollow quills on his back that move with him.
4. Defence mechanism
When the porcupine feels threatened, he will stamp his feet as a warning sign. And if that doesn’t work, he will raise his quills and shake them to make a rattling sound. Previously, people believed that this animal could shoot his quills, but that’s not true. The quills are merely loosened and then detach from his body when a predator, like a leopard or lion, tries to kill him. To lodge his quills into a predator, the porcupine will charge backwards or sideways with erect quills. And that is how many predators end up with quills in their paws and faces.
5. Beautiful quills
Next time you walk in the veld, see if you can find porcupine quills. They have black and white bands and are hollow. The quills can grow up to 30cm long and are open on one end.
6. Daytime snoozing
The porcupine is a nocturnal animal, meaning that he sleeps during the day and then forages at night. He will spend most of the day in a hole in the ground, which can be an abandoned burrow, or a cave or rock crevice. Interestingly, the Cape porcupine can dig, but he cannot climb or jump.
7. Dinner time
The porcupine is a herbivore, meaning that he mainly eats plants, roots, vegetables, leaves, bark, or a variety of plant material that he can find above and below the ground.
