Porcupines

Characteristics:

• Blunt-wedge-shaped head
• Thickest, stumpy body
• Upper body and tail covered with amour of quills
• Short tail
• Powerful feet with large claws
• Strong, large incisors.

Porcupines are the largest rodents of the subcontinent and among the largest in the world. Their dorsal hair is modified into thick, stiff spines of quills. These are usually banded black and white or deep brown and white and are easily shed if damaged or during a struggle. Quills are found commonly shed on forest floors throughout India and along with cigar-droppings, give away the presence of the animal , Porcupines need calcium to grow quills, so they eat bones and shed antlers from the forest floor.

INDIAN PORCUPINE

Local Name: Sayal(Hindi), Sheval(Marathi), Mullan panni(Tamil), shojaru(Bengali).

The most common and largest porcupine of India, this thickest rodent is covered with long black and white quills with a long crest of spines flowing from the forehead to the middle of the back. Its tail ends in a bunch of thick quills. In southern a sub-species often referred to “Red Porcupine” has quills with rusty tinge in its back. The Indian Porcupine is know to destroy crops near the forest margins and eat up the bark of trees at ground level.

Habitat and occurrence: Rocky hill slides, open countryside, and deciduous forest throughout India. Inhabits burrows, thick bush, and tall grass.

ASIATIC BRUSH-TAILED PORCUPINE

Local Name: Ketela pohu(Assamese), Shojaru(Bengali)

These species is the smallest and most endangered of the Indian Porcupines. It lacks the characteristic long quills of the others. Its quills are short and spiny like those of a hedgehog. The first third of its scaly tail is spineless and the rest is covered in a swatch of quills. Each tail quill has a rice-grain sized round enlargement at the tip. Little research has been carried out on this rare species that is not easily spotted n the wild. Interestingly, the Asiatic-Brush-tailed porcupine has a distribution in West Africa and in Peninsular South Asia-perhaps indicative of a time when the two continents were connected by an unbroken stretch of forests.

Habitat and Occurrence: Evergreen forests, especially hilly areas of Northeast India.