Porcupine on hind feet
Being slow moving, the porcupine is a frequent victim in forest fires and on roadways. Injuries from climbing are not uncommon, and diseases, especially rabbit fever, take their toll. External parasites, such as ticks and lice, and internal parasites, round worms, tape worms, and thread worms, are plentiful, although they apparently have no ill effects on the porcupine.
Porcupine quills have been found embedded in several predators, including the coyote, cougar, bobcat, red fox, lynx, bear, wolf, fisher, and Great Horned Owl. Some more experienced predators learn to avoid the quills and kill the porcupine by biting its head or by flipping the porcupine onto its back to expose the unprotected belly. The fisher is the best-known porcupine hunter. It was successfully introduced into some areas of New England to reduce porcupine populations.
European colonists caused a decrease in the fishers, by trapping them and deforesting the southern part of their range. The consequent increase in the number of porcupines coupled with the fact that porcupines damage and even kill some trees led to their being branded as pests. However, a study in a red spruce area in Maine, with 20 to 28 porcupines per 2.5 km2, showed the loss of trees was only 0.5 percent. They are also considered to be pests because of their habit of gnawing buildings around camps. In areas where porcupines are a problem, they are shot, trapped, or poisoned using salt baits. However, not all that the porcupine eats is upsetting to humans. For example, mistletoe, a parasite on trees, is a favoured food. Also the porcupine’s habits of thinning out dense stands of saplings and of killing weed trees are considered to be good forestry practices.
Porcupine on hind feet
Being slow moving, the porcupine is a frequent victim in forest fires and on roadways. Injuries from climbing are not uncommon, and diseases, especially rabbit fever, take their toll. External parasites, such as ticks and lice, and internal parasites, round worms, tape worms, and thread worms, are plentiful, although they apparently have no ill effects on the porcupine.
Porcupine quills have been found embedded in several predators, including the coyote, cougar, bobcat, red fox, lynx, bear, wolf, fisher, and Great Horned Owl. Some more experienced predators learn to avoid the quills and kill the porcupine by biting its head or by flipping the porcupine onto its back to expose the unprotected belly. The fisher is the best-known porcupine hunter. It was successfully introduced into some areas of New England to reduce porcupine populations.
European colonists caused a decrease in the fishers, by trapping them and deforesting the southern part of their range. The consequent increase in the number of porcupines coupled with the fact that porcupines damage and even kill some trees led to their being branded as pests. However, a study in a red spruce area in Maine, with 20 to 28 porcupines per 2.5 km2, showed the loss of trees was only 0.5 percent. They are also considered to be pests because of their habit of gnawing buildings around camps. In areas where porcupines are a problem, they are shot, trapped, or poisoned using salt baits. However, not all that the porcupine eats is upsetting to humans. For example, mistletoe, a parasite on trees, is a favoured food. Also the porcupine’s habits of thinning out dense stands of saplings and of killing weed trees are considered to be good forestry practices.