16/11/2021
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Warning: Prickly post ahead!
A porcupine was recently caught poking around the visitor center at Alaska’s Katmai National Park & Preserve. How about some fun porcupine facts?
⭐️ A porcupine, aka Needle Beaver, has approximately 30,000 quills on its body. (Not a hugger. We repeat. Not. A. Hugger.)
⭐️ Myth busting. Porcupines cannot throw their quills. Don’t get us wrong, they can throw some sassy barbs, (Porcupines are vocal critters and create a wide array of sounds, including shrill screeches, coughs, groans, whines, savage insults, teeth chatters, and low grunts.) but alas, no quill launching. However, on occasion, loose quills will fall out before it strikes, creating the illusion that they're being shot out. Geez. That was a long way to get to the point.
⭐️ The most popular porcupine hobby is quilting.
⭐️ What a slow poke. Porcupines are slow, attaining a maximum speed of two miles per hour.
⭐️ Porcupines have a strong odor to warn away predators, which it can increase when agitated. The smell has been described as similar to strong human body odor, goats, or some cheeses. (Oh, hey pal. Didn’t see you standing there with……expired goat cheese?)
⭐️ Baby porcupines are called "porcupettes.” That is all.
Image: Prickly visitor (porcupine) clings to railing outside the visitor center. I’m gonna need to speak to the ranger. NPS/L.Law