The porcupine is a rodent with black to brownish-yellow fur and strong, short legs. The soles on its feet are hairless and this helps it to climb trees. The porcupine (or sometimes called a "porkie") has a round body, small ears and a small head.

The most recognizable feature of the porcupine is its quills. They can have as many as 30,000 quills, located all over their body with only their stomach being without quills. (So this is the most vulnerable part of the porcupine.) The quills are are actually hairs with barbed tips on the ends. The quills are solid at the tip and base and hollow for most of the shaft. The longest quills are on its rump and the shortest quills are on its cheeks.

The porcupine uses its quills for defense. Most people say that "a porkie shot quills at and got my dog in the face." But that is only a saying, they don't really 'shoot' quills. What really happens is that when a predator approaches, the porcupine will turn its back and raise its back which brings the quills up, and it will lash out with its tail. The procupine is really aiming for the predators face and more often than hits its target. The quills then become embedded in the animal and the body heat of the animal makes the barbs on the quill expand and become even more deeply embedded in the animal's skin. If an animal is hit in a vital place it may die.

As a rule the porcupine is not an aggressive animal and will only attack if it is threatened. Some animals, like the fisher (otherwise known as the martin or weasel), are experts at attacking porcupines.

Porcupines can be found in most parts of Canada and the western United States south to Mexico. In the eastern United States, it can be found in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York and New England.

The habitat of the porcupine is in confierous (coniferous: coniferous - of or relating to or part of trees or shrubs bearing cones and evergreen leaves cone-bearing evergreen - (of plants and shrubs) bearing foliage throughout the year. Special thanks to The Free Dictionary); deciduous (deciduous: Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe. In a more specific sense deciduous means the dropping of a part that is no longer needed, or falling away after its purpose is finished. In plants it is the result of natural processes. Special thanks to Wikipedia); and mixed forests (mixed forests: Mixed forests are a temperate and humid biome. The typical structure of these forests include four layers. The upper most layer is the canopy which is composed of tall mature trees ranging from 33 to 66 m (100 to 200 feet) high. Below the canopy is the three-layered, shade tolerant understory which is roughly 9 to 15 m (30 to 50 feet) shorter than the canopy. The top layer of the understory is the sub-canopy which is composed of smaller mature trees, saplings, and suppressed juvenile canopy layer trees awaiting an opening in the canopy. Below the sub-canopy is the shrub layer, composed of low growing woody plants. Typically the lowest growing (and most diverse) layer is the ground cover or herbaceous layer. Special thanks to Wikipedia); and in the West can be found in scrubby areas.

Porcupines are herbivores, which mean that it eats leaves, twigs and green plants like skunk cabbage and clover. In the winter, when these aren't available it may eat bark. The porcupine often climbs trees to find food. It is usually nocturnal but occassionally will forage for food during the day.

Porcupines mate in late summer and early fall and are very vocal during mating season. Males often fight over females. To impress the female porcupine, the male will perform an elaborate dance and spray urine over the head of the female. Then seven months after mating the female gives birth to a single baby that is born with soft quills which will harden within 1 hour. After only a couple of days the baby porcupine begins to forage and will stay with its mother for about six months.

The porcupine is a solitary animal although it is not uncommon for it to den with other porcupines in the winter. It makes its den in caves, decaying logs and hollow trees. The common porcupine doesn't hibernate, but it may stay in its den during bad weather. Porcupines are good swimmers - those hollow quills help keep it afloat. They are also excellent tree-climbers and spends much of their time in trees. It is a very vocal animal and has a wide-variety of calls including moans, grunts, coughs, wails, whines, shrieks and tooth clicking.

Special thanks to NatureWorks

According to Ted Andrews: Animal Speak: the porcupine signals a renewed sense of wonder. Sometimes porcupines are incorrectly called hedgehogs (an entirely different animal). When porcupine shows up it is time to take a look at your life. Are you allowing other people's opinions to prevent you from exploring activities that could otherwise be fun and enjoyable? Do you have "playtime" in your life? Are you overly sensitive to the barbs of others. Are your own barbs inappropriate or taking the joy from others? Are you still allowing the barbs from long ago to aggravate and sting you? Sometimes it is necessary to remove those barbs, no matter how painful, so they do not fester and poison your system.

Porcupine can show you how to shuffle along without taking too much so seriously and still achieve. They can also teach you how to protect the inner child from all of life's bars and show you the strength in vulnerability.