Quill to defend

BALA THIAGARAJAN

Porcupines are rodents with gnawing teeth and are easily recognised by their spines that are actually modified hair. The quills of the porcupine are profuse, with brown or black and white rings. The Indian porcupine is found throughout India and westwards through Persia and Palestine. The porcupine prefers rocky hillsides, but can also live in almost all types of habitats.

Porcupines are nocturnal by nature, and stay in burrows, caves or among rocks during the daytime, coming out to feed only at night.

As they require calcium for the growth of their quills they gnaw on bones and horns. They feed on vegetables, fruits, grain and roots. Sometimes they are destructive in gardens and cultivation. Porcupines have a keen sense of smell. They can tunnel under walls and hedges and keeping them away from gardens is not easy. Their burrows are long, with more than one entrance and manyemergency exits to escape from predators.

Porcupines use their quills as weapons to defend themselves. When alarmed they raise their spines, grunt and puff and rattle their hollow tail quills. While attacking it launches backwards with incredible speed and drives its quills into the enemy. There are records of panthers and tigers being attacked by porcupines, sometimes even killed in the process. The quills are fatal and are easily dislodged, but the porcupines do not shoot their quills as it is often believed. Quills that are lost or damaged are replaced.

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