his own forest. But let them try to approach him and how quickly 

 the sheet of muscles underneath forces every quill to an upright po- 

 sition, while one blow from the strong tail where the spines are 

 strongest and thickest, teaches the trespasser a lesson never to be 

 forgotten. Each spine is so loosely attached to the wearer's skin 

 that the power of the blow will drive many of them into the vic- 

 tim's body, especially as they penetrate because sharply pointed. 

 When once in, any attempt to extract them succeeds only in 

 making a bad matter worse, as the point is barbed and works its way 

 further into the flesh with every motion of the sufferer. It is not 

 uncommon for death to follow as the final result of the blow. 

 Hence, although slow of movement and of wits, the porcupine is an 

 adversary whom even the large wild cats fear to encounter and 

 dwells in safety among far larger and more clever animals. 



His home is located in a hollow tree, or, more often, in a lair 

 among the rocks. Although somewhat partial to the darkness of 



148 



