Porcupines :: essays research papers

Porcupines Afri passel Crested Porcupines grade rodent. A porcupines habitat and range forests, deserts, and grasslands of North and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Porcupines can deliberate from 2 to 60 pounds depending on the species. A prickly finish of needle-sharp quills is the porcupines best defense. Ordinarily the quills lay flat. But if an enemy approaches the porcupine go away raise the quills and spread them, usually deterring the enemy. If the animal is not deterred the quills may turn on in the enemys flesh when the porcupine brushes against the animal. New quills grow in to relace the lost ones. The porcupine cannot throw its quills. There be two groups of porcupines. They differ in habits and appearance. The porcupines of the Americas also climb trees. Some rent been seen victimization their tails to hold on to branches. In the winter the North American porcupine eats evergreen needles and bark. When spring arrives they feed on leaves, buds, stems, an d fruit. Depending on the species, the gestation period is from 2 to 7 months, bearing 1 to 4 young. The life span of captive porcupines can be as much as 20 years. The Future of the Porcupine They are nearsighted, have a deep red shine to their eyes, and four toes on separately front foot and five toes on each hind foot. Porkies are the second-largest rodent in Wisconsin after the North American beaver. They can weigh 30 pounds or more in summer but their pack drops dramatically during the lean months of winter. Porcupines live in the northern two-thirds of the field of force in a territory that extends in a V-shape from about the Ellsworth area in Pierce County down to Wisconsin Dells and back up toward Green Bay. Porcupines, worry most rodents, are vegetarians. Their winter diet consists of conifer needles, buds and the bark of pines, hemlock, maples and birch. How these critters resist on foods with a protein content of only two to three portion is truly amazing. Porcupin es are sloppy eaters who drop a messiness of greenery that provides a welcome snack for white-tailed deer during deep snows. If you sense of touch a small pile of freshly-snipped branches on a winter walk, its potential porcupines are nearby. Their winter dens are easy to find -- mediocre follow your eyes and nose. Porcupines winter in caves and hollow logs. They trigger the same paths every day.