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"He scarcely looked like a porcupine due to the condition of his skin: It was cracked and crusty and he had lost quills from his head to his tail," the organization wrote on its Facebook page. Rescuers could tell that the porcupine was suffering from skin issues, and knew he wouldn't recover without their help.
Long ago, when the world was young, porcupines had no quills. One day, when Porcupine – pȟahíŋ was in the woods, Bear came along and wanted to eat him. But, Porcupine climbed to the top of a tree and was safe.
One possible explanation is people saw porcupines molting, or shaking off loose quills, and assumed they could “shoot” their quills like projectile weapons! The best thing to do if you encounter a porcupine is to leave it alone. They are solitary creatures and want nothing to do with you.
The porcupine's most famous feature—the quill—is hollow, 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7 centimeters) in length, and lightly attached to the porcupine's skin. Porcupines are covered in about 30,000 quills. Quills are not thrown or shot, as popularly conceived.
It may appear that the prehensile-tailed porcupine has quills all over its body, but there are two spots that lack quills. A close inspection of their underbelly reveals that they have hair that is similar in appearance to their quills, but is soft to the touch.
Porcupines are famed for their quills, which are actually large, stiff hairs that help defend the animals against natural predators. Contrary to popular notions, the large rodents can't throw their quills at an enemy, says Jeffrey Karp, a bioengineer at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
People often assume porcupine quills are venomous, due to horror stories of dogs and other pets passing away after getting pierced. That may be so, but it wasn't because of any poison emitted...
If you happen to be the unlucky recipient of a porcupine quill in the arm or leg, grab a pair of needle-nose pliers and prepare yourself for a pinch. The best way to remove porcupine quills is simply to pull them out.
Long, long ago, the porcupines had no quills. One day, a porcupine was out in the woods. A bear came along and would have eaten Porcupine, but he managed to get up a tree, where the bear...
One porcupine can have up to 30,000 quills, all of which contain barbs that cause the quill to embed deeper into the skin after penetration. One way to safely deal with the quills is to just burn them off.