Porcupine

 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 are 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 with 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐬 of 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, or 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬, that 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 them against 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.The term covers 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 of animals: the 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 of the family 𝐇𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐞, and the 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 of the family 𝐄𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐞.

Most porcupines are about 𝟔𝟎–𝟗𝟎 𝐜𝐦 long, with a 𝟐𝟎–𝟐𝟓 𝐜𝐦 long tail. Weighing 𝟓–𝟏𝟔 𝐤𝐠, they are 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞, and 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰, and use an 𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. Porcupines' colouration consists of various shades of 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐲 and 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞.The largest species of porcupine is the 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝-𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 in the world, after the 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐚 and 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫.

Porcupines occupy a small range of habitats in 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 and 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 parts of 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚, 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞, 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚, and 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 and 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚. They live in 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 and 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐬, 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬, and 𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬. Some 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 live in 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬, but 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 prefer a 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. Porcupines can be found on 𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 up to 𝟑,𝟕𝟎𝟎 𝐦  high. They are generally 𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 but are occasionally active during daylight.

The 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 is a 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐞 and often 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 for 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝, it eats 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐬, 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐠𝐬, and 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 such as 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫. In the 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, it may eat 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐤. The 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 is not a climber, instead, it 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝.It is mostly 𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 but will sometimes forage for food during the day, eating 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬, 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐬, 𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, and 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬.