| © Shannon Ford 2000
In order to make handling our Porcupine
easier, I decided
to tame and train him to accept handling and to respond to basic
"requests".
It took plenty of patience and food to gain his trust
But as you can see, he is now very tame and is a very gentle animal.
How do you pet a Porcupine?
Carefully!
Yes, you *can* pet a porcupine, as long
as you stroke from
front to back. They have long guard hairs and insulating hairs
between their
quills. The quills on the back are not visible, unless the porcupine
is
upset, then he will tighten the skin on his back, making the quills
stand
up and loosen. Porcupines cannot throw quills, but they can
slap their tails with incredible speed and force, driving them
deep into their attacker.
The next stage of my aversion training plan is
to get Oswald not be so fearful
of dogs. That way when a dog is brought up to Oswald for aversion
training,
he will not be so stressed. After living with us for 2 months, This
is Oswald's first exposure to a dog. You can see that he is curious
and has
approached the dog (Sage) to sniff. Sage is in the settle position,
even though Sage is not moving or threatening Oswald,
you can see that Oswald is upset, he has tightened the skin on his back
and is displaying the quills on his back and tail.
As I learn more about Aversion
or Avoidance training on Porcupines I will add information and
photographs to this page.
Porcupine facts:
-
Porcupines are one of the largest North American Rodents,
a porcupine usually weighs between 10 and 40 lbs
-
Porcupines are herbavors, eating grasses and vegetation in
the summer, and the green cambium under tree bark in the winter. They
often girdle and kill trees in their quest for winter nourishment
-
Porcupines have apx 30,000 quills, which are constantly
growing as they are lost. Quills are a specialized hair, and are
everywhere on a porcupine except his legs and underbelly.
Oswald's Favourite Links
Oswald's
quilled friend "Spike" Encarta's
Porcupine Page Encarta
Porcupine Music Encyclopaedia
Britannica Desert
USA Porcupine Page BC
Adventure Porcupine Information page Oswald's Least
Favourite Links Close
to the Land Archives: Porcupine Sandwich Porcupine
Meatball Recipe Porcupine
Skulls and Quills for Sale Having Problems with Porcupine
Control? Oswald hasn't checked these out yet, but the
repellant sounds interesting..... Porcupine
Products
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