Do porcupines eat human food like rice, beans, yam etc? As young bush pilots (that’s how we you started a long time ago, little or no wages, to build time) Me and a friend decided we should write a northern survival manual, in case of a crash. Porcupines are like emergency food in a lot of Canada’s forests. There is evidence that the species will eat some fruit and vegetable matter such as berries and tender roots in leaf mold, as well as maggots and pupae in carrion. Porcupines primarily eat roots, tubers, bark, and fallen fruit but also have a fondness for cultivated root crops such as cassava, potatoes, and carrots. I absolutely feel that when you drive your car that is far, far worse than any porcupine that waddles by. Still, they’re fascinating critters. I live pretty much in the woods. Bobcats, cougars and fishers have learned that a porcupine has no quills on its stomach. Fruit is a preferred food for many different birds. Labor-intensive but effective. We’ve had more than one person stranded up there after porcupines chewed on their vehicle. Matt, Haaa! So was my cat. B: Really? I used to see porcupines regularly in my rural area of Washington state, and my dog had an occasional encounter. That was really funny and very intelligently presented! I have an injured porcupine living on my property and the only thing it will eat is the leaves of cedar trees. The Catskill Mountaineer offers this tantalizing sentence: “Hikers have reported porcupines licking their skin while sleeping.” Really? This was absolutely Hilarious AND informative. Why not? There were no visible chew marks – yet. Porcupines are herbivores. Springtime weeping-willow bark is a particular delicacy for porcupines, I … A: I don't like green apples. During his radio tracking work, Faccio found that they took advantage of the abundant gray squirrels of the oak and hickory forests of northeastern Connecticut. Porcupines begin to eat the cambium of basswood, aspen, and sapling beech trees. Porcupines primarily eat roots, tubers, bark and fallen fruit but have a fondness, too, for cultivated root crops such as cassava, potatoes and carrots. Sounds like a diet full of tasty treats! Other than the main preference of bark and roots; foliage, fruit, shoots and sometimes insects have been recorded to be devoured by species all over the globe. Thank You. Would salt licks strategically placed in the back of the back yard attract the little guy? Among vegetarian stuff, fruits are the favorite food of gorillas and it make about 67% part of their diet if available in abundance. Porcupines have become a … Caught them on my trail camera! Habitats. Be sure to check for porcupines when you make a late-night bathroom run. They usually cover the porcupine’s body, sometimes even being around their face. Some porcupines love wood and eat a lot of bark and stems. During warm months, porcupines eat leaves, buds, nuts, fruit, twigs, and green plants. Porcupine numbers appear to be declining just about everywhere. When actual research was conducted they found that this was untrue. This is a particular favorite of pulp outdoor literature. Depending on the location, they may primarily feed off of sugar maple, ponderosa pine and hemlock trees. They will eat flowers, grasses, vegetables and fruits as well as meat. Great Article Matt! He doesn’t dig; he just grazes. the steps from getting iced up? B: I think I'm going to eat a piece of fruit. Sometimes I just stand there and let him graze. Some porcupines love wood and eat a lot of bark and stems. what do porcupines eat? In the 1800s, when pioneers kept large quantities of salt in their cabins, porcupines reportedly chewed through walls at night to get at the stash. One has to be sensible. This is perhaps one reason this species is so widely spread. Tree bark. I sure hope this article doesn’t incite a porcupine killing spree across the country. A: What kind of apples do you like to eat? This is because most predators do not know how to climb. And unlike most of what I learned at Scout camp, this bit of lore was actually based on truth. The walls of my old Scout camp outhouse looked like they had been run through a wood chipper, so heavily were they gnawed by quilled rodents. As soon as the leaves flush out, the sugar maple is abandoned because the leaves contain high amounts of tannins (chemicals toxic to porcupines). Armadillos eat vertebrates to a lesser extent, including skinks, lizards, small frogs, and snakes, as well as the eggs of these animals. Hi Jon, Photo: WIkimedia user Cephas under a Creative Commons license. By signing up, you'll get thousands of step-by-step solutions to your homework questions. Their diet high in potassium has led them to gnaw on the wood of outhouses in camping grounds because (as disgusting as it is) the urine soaked wood is particularly appealing and give them the sodium they need, making them somewhat a menace to campground owners. They also like to eat fruit from trees and vegetables from gardens. The population of porcupines was so high one year that the departed were buried vertically in the garden (to save space). What Is the Hyena's Diet? What may I use to lure them to get into a trap? Won’t enter a live trap. They may also consume mud and tree bark. Scientific name: Erethizon dorsatum Average weight: 5.5 kg (male) 4.5 kg (female) Average height: 60 to 100 cm Average lifespan:10 years or more Zooniversity’s North American porcupine, “Teddy Bear,” gets a cob of corn for a treat — but, he doesn’t like to share. Information about how to catch a porcupine - remove one stuck in the house. Some take fruit and corn from plantations. It ended up in a corner…apparently it was a large porcupine. What Do Desert Geckos Eat? Birds. Today, porcupines can be at worst a localized problem – although a not insignificant one is your car has no brakes or you’re literally up the creek without a paddle. You are obviously a porcupine expert and I am wondering what a porcupine feces or toilet area looks like, any idea on that one? 1 / 9. What do Gorillas Like to Eat. Has this ever actually happened? I imagine salty leather is somewhat akin to the porcupine version of beef jerky. David and I have come to loathe the critters. This article provides information on what these birds eat. While Porky was out and about, I placed a few bowls of ammonia at his entry point under my shed. Bigfoot bones. Many trees are killed by the voracious habits of porcupines. In the summer, porcupines are almost exclusively ground-feeders where they eat grasses, forbs such as dandelions, and succulent streamside and wetland plants. Porcupines often climb trees to find food such as leaves and berries. The reintroduction of fishers, a major porcupine predator, keeps their populations in check. Answer to: What do porcupines eat? Fascinating article! Fish comprise a major portion of their diet. This is wonderful. It is, however, a myth that these quills can be launched by the porcupine, they are simply quite loosely attached to the body whilst also sometimes featuring barbs, enabling them to stick more firmly into the predator and detach from the quill pig. Porcupines used to be considered a much bigger problem for home owners. Anything that girdles trees must harm the timber industry, or so conventional wisdom went at the time. When they are born they have soft quills, but with exposure to air, they grow stronger every day. Horses sweat too. Thanks Rachel. I have a beautiful Kentucky Bluegrass lawn in the front with lots of yews and flowering plants. Six lines have been chewed and so much porcupine poop that its mountains high. So one of these predators will sometimes kill and eat a porcupine by flipping it onto its back and biting into its vulnerable belly. Porcupines eat fruit, especially apples. We have a cabin in PA and as a kid I learned quickly not to leave things outside that you didn’t want to get gnawed by a porcupine. Not “porcupines eat sasquatch” untrue – but in no way a major factor in timber harvests. It’s extremely useful to know the animals that exist in the wild and local area, especially for hitchhikers, campers, and animal filmmakers, so that you know if animals in the vicinity pose a threat to you. They eat natural bark and stems, and have been known to invade campgrounds and chew on canoe paddles. Diet. There is a patent for “porcupine proof” plywood, based on a potassium resin, but it doesn’t seem to have caught on. He ignores me and we have a 10′ “personal space” agreement. The African crested porcupine is the largest porcupine in the world. For example, onions, garlic, and celery aren’t good for hedgies. What Do Coyotes Eat In The Wild? If you have fruit trees in your yard and you live near a wooded lot, you may find yourself fighting a nuisance porcupine. Porcupines eat seeds,fruit,and twigs. WOW. I know this is crazy, but I am thinking of growing a 5′ x 10′ patch of KBG just for him. Are they herBivors or carnivors or omnivores!? Cerulli writes eloquently of cultivating a mindful relationship with wildlife. I find it ironic that Washington state’s Dept. Porcupines really do frequent backwoods outhouses. The porcupine practices a unique form of gun control. This salt coats the car tire and splashes up underneath the auto body. The Eurasian porcupines range through the forests of southern Europe and Asia, Africa, and Indonesia. The favorite fruits of Gorillas in the wild are of the genera Dialium, Tetrapleura, … Porcupines are large, slow rodents with sharp needles on their backs. Porcupines need natural slat in their diet and often get this from plants such as yellow water lilies and aquatic liverwort. Porcupines, How can we get rid of one that is destroying our weekend cabin during the week. It likes to drink nectar of Mabea occidentalis, balsa tree, and Trichanthera gigantea. Would love to find a method short of shooting them to stop the destruction of my dwarf pear trees. I guess I have a permanent guest. Antlers. This means they eat mostly vegetation. But I haven’t seen one for literally years now, and I know they have a lot of enemies around here (orchardists, loggers, vehicles). Where do porcupines live? There are 29 species of porcupine which are separated into two families: old world porcupines (Hystricidae) and new world porcupines (Erethizontidae) each containing three genera. It often climbs trees to find food. What to do….. I am reaching out from northwestern Ontario. I have several porcupines that come to my apples trees all during the night to eat my apples. Porcupine Extermination And Control Methods Have just read your blog about porcupines with great interest.The “B’S” are back here hungrier than ever. However, it is possible that other families feed on these as well. During the wintertime, porcupines eat a lot of tree bark, as well. But like other staples of this genre – charging wolverines and the big one that got away – it seems to happen more in print than in real life. Repeat A: What are you going to eat with your sandwich? Not that much! This is one of the first things you learn upon arriving at Scout camp in the Pennsylvania woods. This idea was popularized on the regrettable Animal Planet show Finding Bigfoot. Provided the porcupine beats eager shed hunters. They may also consume mud and tree bark. Porcupines are vegetarians and eat almost any plant material, but, particularly during the winter months, trees are special favorites: bark, branches, leaves, buds, twigs and such are commonly eaten. They attract rumor and tabloid-style coverage, most of it myth. Porcupines are strict herbivores and virtually all species of trees found within a porcupine’s range are eaten. Please assume all of the links on AnimalMentor.com are affiliate based links from which our website gains a small commission from sales of particular products. Porcupines are generally herbivorous, preferring to chow down on delicacies such as tree bark and roots but they are not too picky at all and some are not as innocent as you may think. At first glance, a porcupine is not an animal you want to chase and that’s exactly why it has developed its effective spiny defense system that’s almost certain to deter any would-be attacker. If foresters hadn’t killed the porcupines, they wouldn’t have to spend so much money and time thinning forest to prevent fires now. Urine is high in sodium. This created a harrowing situation for nature writer and ethicist Tovar Cerulli: [The porcupines] had nibbled through a brake hose… a problem I discovered on the way to work the next morning, when my foot went to the floor without slowing my pickup at all. Porcupines have become a … “They will feed on anything, from fruit — apples, blackberries, blueberries — to reptiles and amphibians and birds and bird eggs, up to animals the size of porkies,” said Faccio. This guy comes out most anytime it wants-even mid-day doesn’t stop it. They often have tails that help with their grip (prehensile tails) similar to monkeys and other tree-dwelling mammals. Porcupine eats. I also have a porcupine that lives under my shed. yes this is related to sasquatch activity.:). But in case you’re thinking about not rinsing off your face after a hard day’s hike on the Appalachian Trail? I opened the door and about 18 inches from me was this glorious round ball of pure white quills! Apart from bark and cambium, porcupines also … This is when they arrive in a garden; it turns into a mess- one that is difficult to fix. New world porcupines tend to have shorter quills which you could describe as barbs rather than spines. Baby porcupines are usually born during April or May. A serving of fruit is typically 1/2 cup of chopped fruit or berries or one piece of a whole fruit like an apple or an orange. In the desert, they tend towards feeding of Cactus fruit, mesquite beans, flowers, insects, rodents, lizards, and snakes that they like to eat the most. But the human environment is not low in sodium. They also like the taste of salt and seek out salt licks and other areas of salt buildup. They often seek out natural mineral licks for their needs. And, what do porcupines eat? Now, I am worried about my car, my cats, and myself. This one belongs to science fiction, and is almost too silly to mention. This tactic may work for many predators, but it … Their unique features have generated great interests from some humans but a majority of us wouldn't be looking to keep porcupines as pets. Porcupine Meatballs originated during the Great Depression, when rice was affordable and readily available, but meat was pricey. It looked like some kind of Christmas ornament. Apricot. I’ll just bet you, everyone would let these ” Pretty Pouty faced porcupines'” eat their houses , automobiles, trucks, tires, outhouses, & their favorite pet, before they’d let him eat their Cell Phones with their whole lives on them. Fruits can also be fed in small amounts. The resin used to bind plywood is sodium based, making it an ideal porky snack. 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