206 WILD BEASTS OF THE WORLD 



head. When fighting each other, Porcupines make use of their curious 

 retrograde charge, and if one finds himself pierced by a quill from the 

 enemy, he is careful to extract it as soon as possible. They are unsocial 

 animals, living in burrows excavated by themselves, and are seldom seen 

 abroad in the day ; their food is purely vegetable, and consists of roots, 

 herbs, and fruit, which is sometimes pilfered from gardens. Their note 

 is a grunt, and from this, and the bristly nature of their coat, no doubt, 

 comes their popular association with Pigs, a group with which they have 

 no relationship at all, as an examination of their typically rodent teeth, 

 to say nothing of their paws, at once makes clear. 



Young Porcupines are more advanced at birth than most young 

 rodents, having their eyes open, and possessing a coat of spines, 

 which are, however, short and flexible and lie close to the skin. They 

 grow, however, very rapidly. Two or four young ones form the 

 litter, and they are born in spring. The flesh of the Porcupine is 

 very good, and is said often to appear on the dinner-table at Rome, 

 the Campagna being a well-known haunt of the animal ; while every- 

 one is familiar with the use of the quills as penholders and tooth- 

 picks. In captivity Porcupines live well, and become tame ; they also 

 breed freely, and will stand the English winter in an ordinary sty. 

 All fittings, however, must be made of brick and iron-rods, or the 

 animals will soon make their escape by gnawing. 



The Common Porcupine is replaced in South Africa and India 

 respectively by two very similar species, both large, and with crests of 

 long hair (Hystrix africce-australis and H. leucura) ; there are also 

 in Eastern Asia two or three more species, not so large or well- 

 crested ; but the habits of all seem to be very much alike. 



THE BRUSH-TAILED PORCUPINES 



THESE are very different-looking animals from the ordinary large 

 Porcupines, being much more like big Rats; they have spines, but 

 these are comparatively short, and do not do much to break the 



