North American Porcupine
I used to be terrified of porcupines, burdened by the idea that they could shoot their quills at me. Since my friend broke the news and that weight was lifted, I have been obsessed with these defensive, waddling creatures. I almost walked right by this guy on the Salmon Creek Dam trail, but a random conversation about volleyball led me to pretend to set a ball with my hands. The circle I made with my hands fell perfectly on this porcupine's hunched body! It surprised me and I had to get a picture.
The porcupine's scientific name is Erethizon dorsatum, which means “quill pig". (Chesapeake) Following beavers, porcupines are the largest rodents found in Alaska and North America as a whole. They are covered in quills and hair, as well as a "thick layer of body fat" that keeps them warm in the winter (North American Porcupine Species Profile). Porcupines are not aggressive but are defensive when they are attacked. When a predator or unassuming creature comes near them, they emit an unpleasant smell to repel their attacker. If that doesn't work, they strategically move their bodies to insert their quills into their attacker. (Chesapeake). Quills are actually just barbed hairs. Porcupines have around 30,000 quills. Porcupine weight ranges from 15-30 lbs for males, while females often weigh around 2- 4 lbs less than males (North American Porcupine Species Profile). They can live up to 30 years old. To my surprise, the main diet of porcupines is various parts of trees! They eat various tree bark, needles, and leaves. They also tend to feed on dead animal bones "to obtain sodium and calcium" (North American Porcupine Species Profile). Porcupines make many sounds, "ranging from whimpers to screams" (North American Porcupine Species Profile). Porcupines only have one baby in their lifetime, called a "porcupette" (Porcupine - Wildlife Viewing).
Porcupines are used all over Alaska. Athabaskans use porcupine quills for decoration (North American Porcupine Uses). Other native groups use porcupine quills for clothing, art, and jewelry. They often dye the quills for these purposes. Some people eat porcupines while others do not enjoy their meat (North American Porcupine Uses).
Works Cited
Chesapeake Bay Program. “North American Porcupine.” Chesapeake Bay, www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/north-american-porcupine#:~:text=The%20porcupine%27s%20latin%20name%2C%20Erethizon,with%20beavers%20as%20number%20one. Accessed 5 Oct. 2023.
Prescott, Vivian Faith. “Planet Alaska: Gifts from the Porcupine.” Juneau Empire, 28 Nov. 2019.
"North American Porcupine Species Profile". Alaska Department of Fish and Game, www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=northamericanporcupine.main. Accessed 5 Oct. 2023.
"North American Porcupine Uses". Alaska Department of Fish and Game, www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=northamericanporcupine.uses#:~:text=Natives%20used%20to%20kill%20porcupines,%2C%20earrings%2C%20and%20artistic%20items. Accessed 5 Oct. 2023.
”Porcupine - Wildlife Viewing". Alaska Department of Fish and Game, www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=viewing.landmammals&species=porcupine#:~:text=The%20porcupine%20is%20found%20throughout,Lawrence%20islands. Accessed 5 Oct. 2023.
Comments
We don't have porcupines (and a lot of other mammals!) on Baranof island, so I love to see one pop up as an observation in our class! Thanks for sharing this species from the nearby mainland, Lera! Nice work overall sharing details about this rather charming and awkward animal.
As you can imagine, I have some feedback about your MLA format. Well done -- for the most part -- moving your periods and other punctuation to AFTER your parenthetical citations! That's right where you punctuation should be, so keep checking that as you continue using MLA format.
Your entries in your Works Cited are a fine effort! Let me draw your attention, though, to the fact that pages from a website that do not have an author start with the web page title in quotation marks. You have made the parent website into a sort of author and have listed them at the beginning of your entries. Check out the page from our website focused on electronic sources, and scroll down to the section labeled "A Page on a Website" (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_electronic_sources.
html), and this will show you two how to correctly format an entry with an author, and also one without an author.
To walk through the process of correcting these entries you've done, let's just look at one together. If you look at your first entry that starts with "State of Alaska" in your list, pretty much what you would need to do to correct it is remove "State of Alaska," and start with the web page title "North American Porcupine Species Profile." You want to to be sure to put that in quotation marks. The title also ends with a period before you move to listing the host page (in italics); this is exactly what you've done, except you separated the two pieces of information by a comma instead of a period (and I know iNaturalist doesn't have italics as a formatting option). Great job including the website URL and your date accessed information! As always, email with questions about MLA format.
Best,
Professor Brooke
At first, I thought your species was a hairy burl on a tree, but then you said it was a porcupine. It makes me wonder how it got up there and how that branch is supporting its weight. Speaking of that, I didn't know porcupines' weight was that high, 15-20 pounds. I imagined it more being like 10-15 pounds. To be fair, I've only seen porcupines from afar, and I've seen only a handful of them. It's also fascinating to hear that they only have one pup in their lifetime; that's crazy! How have they survived for so long when they can only produce one pup in their lifetime? Rodents are fascinating spices, and I like learning about all their quirks. I liked how you mentioned its life span of 30 years; the rodents I mainly get are shrews, and they only live 1-2 years. It is strange that they are both rodents, but they don't have a similar lifespan. Anyway, thank you for sharing your species.
Hey, Lera! Thanks for providing a great write-up of your experience finding the porcupine in the trees and the corresponding research you were able to do on the species. I had no idea the animal’s scientific name means “quill pig” but it does make sense if you have ever seen their elongated faces with snout-like noses similar to that of a hedgehog. We actually have quite a few of these little guys that live in culverts and under porches in my neighborhood and I believe there is a mutual understanding that because they do not bother anyone, since they are passive creatures and not necessarily aggressive/territorial, we do not bother them either.
I love porcupines and I was so excited to see this fella on the observation page!!! Every time I spot one out and about I stop to watch for a while. Last winter I saw one climbing a tree by the Eaglecrest parking lot. It was climbing on a fairly floppy branch and teetering back and forth yet he stayed balanced. It was very entertaining! What I didn't know is that porcupine's name means "quill pig" but that makes total sense. I also did not know that they feed on tree bark and leaves! Makes sense why they're always waddling on branches.
Hi Lera -I have the same fears you used to. I imagine coming up on a porcupine only for it to turn its back to me and shoot out quills. I mean, I knew it was a defense mechanism, but I just assumed they were always on the defense, I guess. That’s very interesting that they release an odor, similar to what a skunk does; they must be in the same family. Its interesting that the info you go came from a Chesapeake Bay area reference, I lived there several years next to the woods and never saw one down there. Up here porcupine quill Jewely, especially earrings are very popular lately. I’ve got a pair, myself.
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