TRANSCRIPT

INTRODUCTION

I'm Marty Stouffer. Over the centuries, animals evolved defense mechanisms which allowed them to succeed in their respective environments. Nature has cleverly made this point with one cumbersome mammal the Porcupine. The slow, but sure-footed Porcupine is world renowned for one thing its quills.

They are certain to be uncomfortable and in some cases deadly, to any unlucky recipient. This prickly vegetarian may have as many as 30,000 quills. Once driven into flesh, a quill will continue to work deeper and will eventually, work its way right through if not quickly removed.

The Porcupine is one of our largest rodents. It's second in size only to the Beaver. And although its notorious reputation as a spiny nuisance precedes it as sure as its quills bring up the rear, there is still much more to discover about "THE PRICKLY PORCUPINE."

TRANSITION TO TITLE/MAN CHOPPING WOOD

Controversy has surrounded the Porcupine ever since we humans began occupying much of its woodland habitat.

It may come as a surprise that the Porcupine didn't get its name because it dines on pine trees, but from the Latin word for "swine," and the French word for "thorn." Hence its undignified nickname "quill pig."

Even today the Porcupine is unpopular with some people, not just because it can damage trees but because it also chews on gloves, shoes, canoe paddles, gun butts, rubber tires, and ax handles.

TRANSITION TO NIGHT/FULL MOON RISING

Porcupines can be seen at any time of the day but are most active at night.

The Porcupine is not intentionally destructive. It's simply trying to locate a source of sodium, in this case, salt, from human sweat.

PORCUPINE LOOKING FOR SODIUM

The tree bark, leaves, and plants a Porcupine ingests contain massive amounts of potassium. In order to rid its body of excess potassium, its kidneys also flush out essential sodium.

DOG ALERTS MAN/MAN TAKES SHOTS AT PORCUPINE

Sodium cravings are the most intense in pregnant or nursing females, and can result in particularly risky behavior. This female Porcupine is challenging the most dangerous predator in her environment, a human being.

SUPERIMPOSED MAP OF NORTH AMERICA

The North American Porcupine originated in South America, crossing over the Panamanian Land bridge when it emerged to connect the two continents three million years ago.

It took up residency in our vast forests and is now found from coast to coast. For 2 million years these forests and the Porcupine have evolved together, each adapting ways to insure its own survival.

PORCUPINE FEEDING IN TREE

In the forests of northern Wisconsin, it's early fall, the season when a young, male Porcupine, like others of his kind, begins to put on fat, in preparation for winter.

Another creature of the forest watches with interest. The Great Horned Owl occasionally preys on Porcupines, especially young ones.

But today, the typically passive Porcupine decides to turn the tables on the crafty hunter.

Owls that tangle with Porcupines may pay a painful price. Some have been found with hundreds of quills embedded in their bodies.

OWL FLIES AWAY

TIME-LAPSE SUNRISE/WHITE PORCUPINE

Shades of yellowish, reddish, brown and black are common. He has dark eyes and a dark nose. With the exception of his remarkable color, he's a typical Porcupine.

CLOSE-UP OF QUILLS

His approximately 30,000 needle sharp spears are the thickest around the upper back and neck. There may be up to 150 projectiles per square inch!

Porcupines are solitary rodents though males have been known to share their home ranges and even forage in the same tree. But when breeding season nears in late fall, disputes over dominance are common.

A Porcupine cannot throw its quills, but on contact, they do dislodge with ease.

CONFRONTATION ON TREE

The older white male has the advantage over the inexperienced youngster, turning his prickly posterior toward the young male's vulnerable face at precisely the right instant.

Contrary to popular belief, quills are not poisonous. In fact, they're covered with fatty acids which act as topical antibiotics, the Porcupine's insurance policy against suffering a serious infection from its own best weapon.

Luckily, a Porcupine has dexterous front paws which allow it to pull out quills.

NATIVE AMERICAN ART

Native Americans had a high regard for all animals including the Porcupine. Using its quills, the women created unique and intricate designs on clothing, shields, baskets, nearly anything they could pierce with their primitive bone awls.

The quills themselves were a valuable trade item, a form of currency that the Woodland tribes used in bartering with their neighbors on the Great Plains. Ironically, great quantities of quill-work were produced by tribes which didn't even live in Porcupine country!

Prior to the 1840's, appliquéing with quills was their principal way of decorating garments, an art form unique to the ingenious North American natives.

Both male and female Porcupines have a pair of well developed scent glands near the base of the tail. As breeding seasons nears, the young male vigorously scent marks his territory in an attempt to assert his dominance.

Porcupines reach sexual maturity at about a year and a half and can live
10 years or more. However, four to five years may be the norm.

These lumbering rodents seldom shift out of low gear. In pioneer days they were preyed upon by humans in need of an emergency meal. Until recently, some states had laws on the book protecting Porcupines for just this reason.

During especially hard winters, the Porcupine was the only food source that stood between some native tribes and certain starvation.

Porcupines have poor eyesight except at close range but, their sense of smell is excellent. The young male catches the scent given off by a female. The aroma of her vaginal mucous mixed with urine tells him that she's in estrus.

COURTING LOVE DANCE

One of the stranger aspects of the male's courting strategy begins with a love dance done while waddling on his back legs.

URINATING ON PROSPECTIVE MATE

For his grand finale, the male anoints his intended in a shower of urine. Witnesses to this bizarre ritual claim that powerful bursts may travel over six feet!
If the female is sexually receptive, being sprayed with urine acts as a stimulant. If not, she will simply walk away.

The impatient and inexperienced youngster makes a big mistake in pushing himself onto the female. As you might guess, a female Porcupine cannot be forced. Consummation occurs only when she's ready.

Several males may guard the same female for days until she's willing to mate. Vicious fights between competitors are not uncommon at this time. One researcher counted nearly 1500 quills that had been lost in a single, violent battle.

TIME-LAPSE INTO WINTER

Winters in the forests of Northern Wisconsin are hard for all non-migratory, non-hibernating creatures, which includes the Porcupine.

Its diet of bark and pine needles contains less than two to three per cent crude protein and far less energy value than the nuts and apples harvested in the fall.

COYOTE

An opportunistic hunter, the Coyote, is on the lookout for any animal weakened by hunger.

If enough soft, fluffy snow accumulates, the porky limits its range to only a few acres. Its urine and scat will be concentrated. Little nipped off branches will litter the ground and tree trunks will bear the tooth marks and scent of the big rodent.

For an intelligent hunter like the Coyote it's no harder than finding a battleship in a bathtub.

The young male warns the Coyote to back off, chattering his teeth and raising his quills.

Without heeding the warning, the Coyote almost casually walks in to a well timed left hook, and the confrontation is over.

COYOTE WITH FACE FULL OF QUILLS

A face full of quills can be fatal if they keep the victim from eating. Otherwise, the antibiotic coating on the spines will generally keep any infection to a minimum.

MICROSCOPIC LOOK AT QUILL

Upon microscopic examination, a quill tip is a mass of overlapping barbs. It goes in easily but only comes out with difficulty. Imbedded into warm flesh, the quill expands and works against the victim's own muscle contractions.

Some experts contend that it can work in at a rate of 1 inch per day.

Porcupines do not discriminate among their victims. Quills have been found embedded in such diverse species as Polar Bears, Deer, Dogs, a Black Angus cow and a Trout!

TRANSITION TO SPRING

Winter is loosening its grip on the north country. Spring is more a promise than a memory.

Although his girth has been reduced, the young male will quickly regain his plump figure. A Porcupine's diet of spring foliage contains more crude protein than most of our favorite breakfast cereals!

But now is no time to grow complacent.

FISHER HUNTING SNOWSHOE HARE

The Porcupine's ultimate threat is near. Even a well-armed Porcupine has an Achilles Heel and the fleet-footed Fisher is just the one to expose it.

Its main prey is the swift, Snowshoe Hare.

The Fisher is the only predator that can, with some regularity, kill a Porcupine without severely injuring itself.

It normally hunts by zig-zagging over an expansive territory. When it hunts the Porcupine, it heads in nearly a straight line for the porky's den, unless it's lucky enough to find fresh, pigeon-toed tracks in the melting snow.

VOLE RUNNING ACROSS FIELD

Another rodent, the much smaller Vole, is roused from its burrow by its big, bow-legged cousin.

Only temporarily distracted, the Fisher continues tracking the Porcupine.

A Fisher does not kill a Porcupine by flipping it over as many people believe, but by rapidly circling and biting the porky's vulnerable face, wearing the slower animal down.

Caught on the ground, the young male wisely puts his face toward the tree with his rear toward the assailant.

FISHER WITH FACE FULL OF QUILLS

The young Fisher will survive this hunting lesson. Some people believe Fishers suffer less from being quilled than any other Porcupine predator.

Nearly eliminated in the US. due to over trapping, logging, and human settlement, the Fisher has been re-introduced into much of its former range, in hopes it will drastically reduce Porcupine populations. It's more likely that this attractive fur bearer will simply restore a natural balance between two traditional rivals.

TIME-LAPSE SUNSET/TRANSITION TO SUMMER

BABY PORCUPINE

As Spring fades softly into Summer, the forest is bursting with the sounds of new life. After a typically long gestation period of seven months, a female Porcupine has given birth to her well developed little "porcupette."

Its one inch long spines are soft for only the first 30 minutes, then they harden into sharp projectiles.

The baby can climb at two days and feed itself in only one week. It's dependent on its mother's milk for only a few months. By autumn, the young Porcupine will be independent and ready to take its place in the great Northwoods.

CONCLUSION

Years ago, when woodlands stretched across America, it was easier to see the important role the Porcupine played in maintaining a healthy forest. The scarred trees the Porcupine left behind eventually died. However, the standing dead trees provided hollow cavities which, in turn, became denning and feeding sites for countless other species.

Today, as we humans steadily encroach upon the delicate fabric of our forests, we need to be reminded of how essential it is to keep this habitat prosperous. And we should remember that a major contribution has been unintentionally provided by that strange little animal, "THE PRICKLY PORCUPINE."

I'm Marty Stouffer. Until next time, enjoy our WILD AMERICA.