Porcupine

1
Porcupine

• By
• Olivia Atkinson
• October 2008

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Life Cycle

• Mate in summer and early fall
• Very vocal during mating
• Give birth in the spring to a single baby
• Males fight over the females during mating
• Climbs trees at several days old
• Lives to be 18 years old

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Habitat/Shelter

• North American, Alaska, Canada, Western United
  States and sometimes North east
  
• Prefer a forest
• Chiefly pine forest
• Arctic, tundra, desert, pastureland and grassy
  shore
  
• Sometimes a hollow log
• Burrow only in very bad weather for warmth

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Diet

• Roots, leaves, bark
• Evergreen
• Tree needles
• Berries and nuts
• Almost totally plants
• Climb trees to strip bark
• Young drink mothers milk
• Leaves, twigs and green plants
• Cabbage and clover
• Climbs trees to get food

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Adaptations

• Known to weigh up to 35 pounds
• Usually weigh up to 10 or 12 pounds
• Small head, small ears
• Strong curved claws for climbing to get away from
  enemies
  
• Climbs up to 50 feet high in a tree
• They do not have keen eyes
• They also make a lot of noises to scare enemies

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Fun Facts

• Quills are hard to remove from it
• Many die from germs on quills
• Protect forests where porcupines live

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Works Cited

• Dingwall, Laima. Porcupine. Danbury, CT
  Grolier, 1986.
  
• NatureWorks. Update N/A. New Hampshire Public
  Television. 30 Sept. 2008 atureworks/nw4.htm.
  
• Porcupine. World Book. 2006. 2006.