Usually when we see porcupines wandering around, we think about the danger to our dogs, if we have them, or ourselves. But really, porcupines are just trying to live their best lives.
Maggie Ransom of Cornish captured some of that in her videos of a porcupine family that lives near her. She has even named the animals.
The male is named Quilliam, the female is Quillma and the two babies, technically called porcupettes, are Baby Quilliam and Quillomena.
The special thing about this video is being able to watch one of the babies nurse from its mother.
Porcupines, which are herbivores, are mostly nocturnal and spend their days resting in a tree, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. They prefer hardwood, especially hemlock forests.
Seeing so much action in daylight may be a bit unusual. Perhaps the “Quill” family doesn’t know it’s supposed to be nocturnal.
Adult porcupines can have more than 20,000 quills, which they embed in an attacker or someone or something they perceive as a threat by swatting with their tail. It is a myth that they can throw their quills, the DIF&W says.
Porcupettes are born with soft quills that eventually harden.
