You never know what kind of animal you will see while driving in the Northwoods and depending on the time of year or even day or night seeing different species is not unusual, but I would say, there are exceptions. Seeing an Owl or Bat during the day is highly unusual, because they are nocturnal, so wouldn’t you be surprised to witness an animal in the afternoon that should not be walking around during the day?

Monica and I experienced this last month while driving on County B just west of county M when we saw a Porcupine walking on the side of the road and thought immediately something must be wrong with this animal because 1) It was two in the afternoon and 2) The Porcupine was walking right next to the road and didn’t seem bothered that our truck not only drove by a foot away, but I backed up and stopped next to it. Was there something truly wrong with this animal? Maybe, but I wasn’t about to get out of my truck to investigate. Porcupines are not as prevalent to rabies as other animals because predators will avoid confronting them, but there have been some cases. That being said, I did think It was strange that the porcupine didn’t move or turn away from us when I stopped because they avoid any confrontation, and I know they are USUALLY nocturnal and spend most of their day up in trees. At this point I left the quill pig (meaning porcupine in Latin) a lone and drove away.

I’m sure we all know about their quills and how dangerous and painful those can be, but those are their only defense. Some folks may believe porcupines shoot their quills if threatened, but the truth is, if they are confronted, they will shake their quills that make a rattling sound as a warning before turning to hit whatever animal is attacking them. When this happens, it’s the face of the animal that takes the brunt of the quills. These quills are modified hairs, and each quill can have up to 800 barbs, that if embedded are very hard to remove. For this reason, most animals know to leave them alone, but the FISHER is the only animal that can efficiently attack and kill a porcupine.

As always when writing about animals, here are some facts on Porcupines.

* Are great climbers.
* Can have up to 30,000 quills.
* Even though they don’t need to swim, because their quills are hollow, they are great swimmers.
* Can be 2 to 3 feet long and weigh up to 30 pounds.
* Offsprings are called Porcupette’s
* A group (mother & young) are called Prickles. I SWEAR THATS TRUE
* Porcupines are the 2nd largest rodent next to Beavers.
* Their teeth are continuously growing (gnaw on wood to trim & sharpen teeth).
* Mostly eat vegetation, but also animal bones they find in the woods for calcium.
* Their favorite twigs/bark to eat comes from oak trees.
* To avoid direct sunlight, will stay up in trees during daylight.
* Can live up to 15 years in the wild.

So, if you see a Porcupine with a baby walking on the side of the road, you know a little more about the PRICKLES. Again, THAT IS TRUE.