356 



THE RODENTS OR GNAWING ANIMALS. 



The shorter quills are blackish brown and ringed, 

 but the base and tip are generally white. The tip 

 of the tail is implanted with quills of a different 

 kind, which are about two inches long and one- 

 fourth of an inch thick, and which consist of trun- 

 cated, thin-wallpd tubes, with an open extremity 

 resembling the quills of a fowl with their ends cut 

 off, their roots being long, thin and flexible. All 

 the quills of the body may be erected and depressed 

 at pleasure by a large, strong flexor muscle, ramify- 

 ing beneath the skin of the animal and capable of 

 strong contraction. The under parts of the body 

 are covered with dark brown hair, overshot with a 

 reddish tinge; the throat is encircled by a white 

 band. The claws are darkish, but translucent. The 

 eyes are black. 



The European The Porcupines inhabiting Europe 



Porcupine an Im- are said to be natives of northern 

 migrant. Africa, and to have been imported 

 by the Romans. At present the animal is found in 

 northern Africa along the coasts of the Mediterra- 

 nean, especially in Algiers, Tripoli, Tunis and as far 

 as Senegambia and the Soudan. In Europe it is 

 frequently found in the Campagna of Rome, in 

 Sicily, Calabria and Greece. In lower Egypt, where 

 it is said to be found, I never saw a trace of it. 



Habits of The Porcupine leads a solitary life. 



the Common Por- During the day it rests in the long, 

 cupine. Jqw tunnels which it excavates in the 



ground; at night it emerges from them and prowls 

 around after food. Its diet consists of plants of all 

 kinds, such as thistles and other herbs, roots and 

 fruit, the bark of many trees and various leaves. 

 Its manner of feeding resembles that of others of 

 its kind. It bites a piece off, seizes it with its front 

 teeth and holds it with its fore-paws while eating. 

 All its movements are awkward and sIqw; it walks 

 in a lazy, deliberate way and its running capacities 

 are also limited in point of speed. Only in burrow- 

 ing is the clumsy animal possessed of a certain 

 amount of celerity, which is far from sufficient, how- 

 ever, to enable it to escape a skillful, nimble antago- 

 nist. In winter it is said to occupy its burrow more 

 than at other seasons, and sometimes remain.s in it 

 sleeping for several days at a time. It does not 

 really hibernate. 

 The Porcupine's If a- Porcupine be taken by surprise 



H/lethodsof Intim- outside of its burrow, it threaten- 

 idation. ingly rears its head and neck, erects 



all the spines on its body and rattles them together 

 in a peculiar way, especially those of the tail with 

 which it produces a peculiar rattling sound, quite 

 adapted to frighten an ignorant or timid person. 

 When highly excited it stamps on the ground with 

 its hind feet, and if it be seized it utters a hollow 

 grunt, similar to that of a Pig. Notwithstanding its 

 belligerent demonstrations the animal is perfectly 

 inoffensive, easily frightened, retreating upon the 

 approach of a person and hardly ever making de- 

 fensive use of its sharp teeth. The quills also are 

 intended more for the defensive than an offensive 

 purpose. Whoever approaches it carelessly may 

 hurt himself, but a dexterous sportsman seizes the 

 creature by the mane and carries it off with ease. 

 Propagation of A litter of young Porcupines num- 

 the Porcu- bering from two to four is born in 

 pine. the burrow in a soft nest lined with 



leaves, roots and herbage. The little creatures 

 make their appearance with open eyes, and have 

 short, soft spines lying close to the body. The 

 spines grow rapidly and soon harden, though they 



attain their full length only at a more advanced age. 

 As soon as the young are capable of shifting for 

 themselves, they leave their mother. 

 Method of Hunt- It can scarcely be truly asserted that 

 ing Porcu- the Porcupine causes any damage. 

 pines. Nevertheless it is an object of dili- 



gent pursuit. The quills are used in many ways and 

 the flesh is also occasionally eaten. In the Roman 

 Campagna the hunting of the animal is considered 

 a particularly enjoyable sport; there certainly is no 

 denying the fact that the way in which the animal is 

 hunted is somewhat peculiar and attractive. The 

 huntsman sets out in the dark of night, accompa- 

 nied by a few well trained Dogs, which are set on 

 the trail and left to track the quarry. A loud, furi- 

 ous bark signifies their meeting with the hero of the 

 quills and also serves to guide the huntsman to the 

 spot in which the combat takes place — if the en- 

 counter may be called a combat at all. All the 

 sportsmen light the torches which they have kept in 

 readiness and hurry to the scene of action. As soon 

 as the Dogs become aware of their masters' ap- 

 proach, they howl with joy and proceed to furiously 

 attack their antagonist. The Porcupine tries to re- 

 pel them, rattling its quills, grunting and growling 

 in all toties and protecting itself as much as possible 

 with its quills, which stand out in all directions. 

 Finally the sportsmen form a circle around the game 

 and its pursuers, and the glaring light of the torches 

 enables the sportsmen to view the conflict and ren- 

 ders it possible for the Dogs to subdue the quarry 

 by means of their trained methods of attack. In 

 this way the hunter may either kill the Porcupine or 

 take it home alive. 



TREE OR CLIMBING PORCUPINES. 



The Tree or Climbing Porcupines (Cercolabind) are 

 distinguished from other members of the family 

 principally by their slender bodies and tails of 

 greater or less length, prehensile in most of the 

 genera. All varifties comprised in this group are 

 natives of America. 



The Urson In the northern half of America the 

 or Canadian Por- Tree Porcupines are represented by 

 cupine. tj^g Urson or Canadian Porcupine 



{Erithizon dorsatiini) . It, as well as its only known 

 kinsman, differs from the South American Cercola- 

 binae in having a stout body, and short, flattened or 

 broadly compressed tail, thickly set with quills on 

 its upper surface and with bristles on the under side. 

 The Urson attains a length of thirty-two inches; 

 seven and one-half of which are included in the tail. 

 The head is short, thick ahd blunt, the muzzle is 

 truncated, the apertures of the small nostrils. may be 

 more or less entirely closed by a semi-lunar flap or 

 valve. The fore feet have four toes and no digit 

 analogous to a thumb; the hind feet are five-toed, 

 the claws are long and strong, the soles destitute of 

 hair, covered with a skin showing a network of fur- 

 rows. A thickset fur, which attains a length of 

 four and one-half inches on the nape of the neck 

 and changes into sharp spines on the under parts of 

 the body, and the tip of the tail, clothes the animal. 

 Dispersed among the hair and spines, quills rather 

 more than three inches long and for the greater part 

 concealed in the fur, are distributed over the upper 

 surface. The color of the animal is a blending of 

 brown, black and white. 



The Canadian Porcupine is a native of the forests 

 of North America, ranging from the sixty-seventh 

 parallel of north latitude south to Virginia and Ken- 



