ERETHIZON DORSATUS. 2O3 



remarkably broad across tlic l)ack. His lei^s are short. The soles 

 of his plantigrade feet are broad and naked, like those of the bear, 

 and his claws are large, well-curxetl, and channelled beneath. His 

 tail is most extraordinary. It is a large, ponderous, and somewhat 

 four-sided structure, capable of dealing a [)owcrful blow. 



The entire upper surface of the animal, from in front of the eyes 

 to the tip of the tail, the cheeks, sides of the neck, body and tail, 

 the shoulders, flanks, and hips, are densely covered with thickly-set 

 stout spines, varying from less than an inch (25.5 mm.) to more 

 than four and one (quarter inches (108 mm.) in length. These 

 spines or quills, which in a state of rest are directed backward, are 

 connected at their bases with a layer of muscle by which they may 

 be erected at will. The mature quills cling so loosely to the skin 

 that they are easily detached, and their finely barbed tips cause 

 them to adhere to any animal with which they come in forcible 

 contact. After having penetrated the skin, the tendency is to ad- 

 vance, and the muscular action of their victim causes them to 

 become more and more deeply imbedded. There is no part of the 

 body to which they may not travel. I have found them in the hind 

 leg of a fisher, firmly fixed between the tibia and fibula. 



The Porcupine, owing to this formidable dermal armature, has 

 but few enemies. Chief among them, as has already been shown 

 (Vol. I, pp. 30, and 48-50), are the panther and fisher ; and since 

 these powerful Carnivores have become rare in the Adirondacks, 

 the Porcupine has been, and still is, on the increase. He is occa- 

 sionally attacked by wolves, eagles,* and the great-horned owl. 



He is a pretty strict vegetarian, deriving the greater part of his 

 sustenance from different kinds of browse and bark. Amongf the 

 conifers, the hemlock furnishes the most palatable food, for he is 

 found upon it more often than upon any other evergreen. He 



* In Forest and Stream of March 20, 1884 (p. 144), Mr. J. L. Davison, of Lockport, N. Y., 

 states that he had recently examined a golden eagle that had been shot at Plessis, Jefferson County, 

 N. Y. He says : " The feet of the eagle were full of porcupine quills, which was probably the 

 last animal he had dined off, and about as hot a meal as he ever had." 



