Porcupine

a family of ungainly, clumsy tree-climbing animals distinguished by the development of bristles into hollow barbed quills like the lower part or shaft of a feather. The term porcupine signifies swine thorn. There are about fifty species in the family. They are in no way related to the hedgehog. The common Canadian porcupine is found from eastern Canada to Mexico, chiefly in evergreen regions. It is a dark brown, low set, heavy, sluggish animal covered with spines tipped with yellowish white. The porcupine is about forty inches in length including the tail, and weighs from fifteen to forty pounds. Its claws are well adapted for climbing trees. It feeds chiefly at night on the bark and twigs of the birch, poplar, hemlock, and maple. It has chisel-shaped teeth, like those of a mouse or beaver. It is not infrequently seen going about in the daytime or sitting lengthwise on the limb of a tree.

Its back and heavy tail are thickly covered with spines from four to six inches long which are the animal's chief defense. They have points like a cambric needle and are barbed like a fish hook. If molested and a tree be near, the porcupine tries to scramble up out of reach, but otherwise makes little attempt to escape. It lays its tail along the ground until an enemy comes within reach, when it strikes with a heavy slap. The quills are exceedingly sharp and are easily detached from the skin. A dog's face filled with quills from the slap of a porcupine's tail is a pitiful sight. Animals frequently die from the effects of the quills, which, by means of their barbs, are worked deeper and deeper into the flesh by its own muscular action. Burroughs very aptly likens the porcupine's quill to a bad habit.

Hunters, campers, and lumbermen in wild regions find porcupines exceedingly troublesome. They come around camp at nightfall and, while inoffensive, they cut harnesses, gnaw boots and ax-handles, cut into casks, and commit other annoying depredations for the sake of salt, of which they are very fond. Watchdogs soon learn to give them a wide berth.

The porcupine's quill is, of course, a very large hollow hair. It is the nearest approach to a feather worn by any animal other than a bird. The quills are very readily detached from the skin when the barb has become fixed. One can scarcely touch a porcupine without the painful experience of drawing away quills in his fingers. The points are so fine that they are scarcely visible, and one does not realize how near the hand is to them until they have pierced the skin. The popular notion, however, that the porcupine can throw his quills is entirely erroneous. The quills of a North African species are about a foot in length and make very handsome penholders. The North American squaws dye the quills of the Canadian porcupine blue, yellow, and red, and use them for purposes of ornamentation. The edge of a piece of buskskin is slit, for instance, into fine thongs a few inches in length. A quill is threaded on each thong with a knot at the outer end to prevent it from slipping off, thus making an ornamental fringe for moccasins and other garments that gives a pleasing rattle when the wearer walks. Frequently the quills are split into splints, and are woven into various ornamental parti-colored patterns. Longfellow says of Hiawatha that he

But the poet makes two mistakes in natural history when he says: