Common Name
North American Porcupine
Order
Rodentia
Family
Erethizontidae
Species Name
Erethizon dorsatum
Status
common
States
Alaska
Arizona
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Distribution
Much of Canada and northwestern United States south to eastern Tennessee, central Iowa, and central Texas. This species is absent from most of western and southern California.
Notes
Active throughout year. Barbed quills. Do not shoot their quills. The porcupine directs the spiny part of their body at the would be attackers, and the loosly attached quills will come out when they come into contact with the predator. Cause economic da
Illinois
May have been extirpated before 1850.
New York
Active throughout year. Do not shoot their quills. The porcupine directs the spiny part of their body at the would be attackers, and the loosly attached quills will come out when they come into contact with the predator. Cause economic damage by gnawing