Adorable Porcupine

by Judi Dressler

Title

Adorable Porcupine

Artist

Judi Dressler

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

"Aren't I adorable?" I think that should really be the title for this image, don't you(?), lol! This little Porcupine was so sweetly holding the berries in one hand, but got disturbed by the photographer who wanted a picture! This guy or gal lives on private property near where we stayed on our trip to Alaska.

The North American porcupine is a rodent and an herbivore. It eats leaves, twigs and green plants like skunk cabbage and clover. In the winter, it may eat bark. It often climbs trees to find food. It is mostly nocturnal, but will sometimes forage for food in the day. The porcupine is a solitary animal, although it may den with other porcupines in the winter. It makes its den in caves, decaying logs and hollow trees. It doesn't hibernate, but may stay in its den during bad weather. The porcupine uses its quills for defense. It cannot shoot its quills, but when a predator approaches, the porcupine will turn its back, raise the quills and lash out at the threat with its tail. Those quills can become embedded in the animal and are hard to remove, since they are barbed. The porcupine is not an aggressive animal, though, and will only attack if it feels threatened

Photo taken on November 7, 2021, in Southern Alaska.

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Descriptive keywords and tags for this image include porcupines, quills, standing, holding, berries, moss, alaska, animals, wildlife, adorable, cute, funny, sweet, black and white, rodents, hystricidae, erethizontidae, erethizon dorsatum, herbivore, mammals, nature, dressler, and judi dressler.

Uploaded

November 30th, 2021

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Viewed 438 Times  -  Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 04/24/2024 at 9:50 PM

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