Do Porcupines Shoot Their Quills? How Do the Quills Work?

What do Porcupines look like?

Porcupines are herbivores that love to eat leaves, twigs, bark, and green plants. They are considered rodents with brown, yellow fur and stiff quills covering their bodies except for their soft stomachs. Weighing only about 20 pounds and their length is about twenty-five to thirty-six inches full-grown, males are bigger than females.

They have a prehensile tail which is like a third arm and can wrap around a tree branch, allowing them to be stable climbers. They are the second largest rodent in North America, with the capybara leading them in size. Porcupines tend to be nocturnal but sometimes wander around during the daytime.

Tell Me about the Quills of a Porcupine

Porcupine quills are hollow hairs made of hardened keratin that look like hollow feathers. Keratin is the same material that your fingernails are made of and the same as porcupines’ claws. They have a saw-toothed feathery barb at the end of the quill that makes it stuck in you if you should happen to get quilled.

They are the self-defense mechanism and protection of the soft furry body of the porcupine. The quills are sometimes called guard hairs because they are really just hardened hairs. The interesting part is they contain an antibiotic naturally in them.

Does this mean the porcupine protects its predators? Well, yes, sort of, but it is really to protect the porcupine if it accidentally gets poked by its own quills. Quills can vary in length, depending on the species of the porcupine.

The average quill is about two to three inches, but the African crested porcupines can have quills that are a foot long and as thick as a straw. One porcupine can have about 30,000 quills spread over its back and on the end of its tail.

Can a Porcupine Shoot its Quills?

Porcupines cannot shoot their quills, not even one inch, but I would not get close to a porcupine. If you get too close, you could instantly have dozens of quills stuck in you. If you get close enough, the eight-to-ten-inch tail will swat toward you … Read the rest of the story.