COMMON NAME (S): Porcupine (Quill pig)

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Erethizon dorsatum

CLASSIFICATION: Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Erethizontidae

DESCRIPTION: Length: 2-3.5 feet (excluding tail)
Height: about 1 foot (at highest point when standing)
Weight: up to about 33 pounds
General: Color varies from dark brown to almost black. The upper body is covered with barbed quills distributed among guard hairs. The underparts lack quills. There are four toes on the fore foot and five toes on the hind foot, all with strong curved claws.

RANGE: Throughout North America, south to northern Mexico and Tennessee.

HABITAT: Mixed forests.

STATUS: General: Common.
               WA State: Common.

DIET: Consists of vegetation, especially the inner bark (cambium layer) of trees.

REPRODUCTION: Breeding season is in the late fall. The gestation period is about six months. Generally, the female gives birth to one young. At birth, a newborn weighs about 12-20 ounces.

LIFE SPAN: About 8 years.

BEHAVIOR: A threatened porcupine may protect itself by climbing or fleeing. If cornered it erects its quills, turns its rump toward the source of danger and rapidly lashes out with its tail. Quills are not thrown or shot but must come in contact with the skin or other objects to detach.

SOURCES: Wild Animals of North America, National Geographic Society
Sportsman's Guide to Game Animal, L. L. Rue III Walkers
Mammals of the World, 4th Ed., Ronald M. Nowak, John L. Paradiso.