Asked by: Boi Mesia
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What eats a porcupine?

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Even with all their defenses, porcupines are preyed upon by a several predators. The list includes lynx, bobcats, coyotes, wolves, wolverines, and great horned owls. Important predators include mountain lions and fishers. Mountain lions and fishers have different stratgies for attacking porcupines.


Also, do foxes eat porcupines?

Mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats and foxes all occasionally hunt these spiky rodents. But in eastern North America, by far one of the porcupine's most formidable predators is the fisher, a larger cousin of the American marten. There was a time when porcupines lived without fear of attack by these wily weasels.

what are predators of porcupines? Fishers are a primary predator of porcupines, but quills have been found embedded in coyotes, cougars, bobcats, foxes, lynxes, bears, wolves and even Great Horned Owls. These predators kill a porcupine by biting its unprotected face or by flipping it over to expose the vulnerable underside.

Similarly, it is asked, do snakes eat porcupines?

Believe it or not, pythons and other snakes do sometimes eat porcupines. However, many snakes end up regretting their choice of snack. A study published in 2003 in the Phyllomedusa Journal of Herpetology found that a porcupine's quills can pierce all the way through a hungry snake's body.

How do predators eat porcupines?

Bobcats, cougars and fishers have learned that a porcupine has no quills on its stomach. So one of these predators will sometimes kill and eat a porcupine by flipping it onto its back and biting into its vulnerable belly. Wolves in a pack can do this to porcupines. Once it has been turned over, the game is up.

Related Question Answers

Olesia Hirschkopf

Professional

What are porcupines afraid of?

Porcupines have little to fear from animals such as foxes or raccoons, especially after aiming a few quills toward a would-be predator's nose. Cougars have been reported to accept a few quills to get a porcupine meal. But the big cats are rare in most areas, so their impact is minimal.

Kostadin Wierbrugge

Professional

Are porcupines good for anything?

"North American porcupines use their large front teeth to satisfy a healthy appetite for wood. They eat natural bark and stems, and have been known to invade campgrounds and chew on canoe paddles. "

Spartak Gatke

Professional

How long do porcupines live for?

At birth, they have soft quills, which harden in a few days. Porcupettes mature at 9 months to 2.5 years, depending on species and can live up to 15 years in the wild.

Marylee Simoes

Explainer

Can a porcupine kill a human?

According to new research, porcupine quills aren't just a painful deterrent, they're deadly daggers that porcupines are not afraid to use to kill.

Grimanesa Lichintser

Explainer

Are porcupines smart?

Porcupines are mammals, more specifically, rodents. They are terrific climbers because of their long claws, and have excellent balance. Porcupines are mainly solitary and nocturnal but sometimes forage during the day. Porcupines are considered to be intelligent, rapid learners with good memories.

Dessie Ordeñana

Explainer

What will eat a skunk?

Coyotes, foxes, dogs, bobcats, mountain lions, badgers and big owls can all eat skunks but rarely do.

Chengjie Jalamov

Pundit

How do porcupines protect themselves?

Porcupine Protection
porcupines have quills on its back to defend itself. porcupine has fur to protect it from cold. trees protect it so they can't get eaten. porcupines body have thicker fur than other animals so if a predator's bite into their skin.

Pabla Novoselov

Pundit

Where do porcupines sleep?

Porcupines are nearsighted and slow-moving. They are mainly active at night (nocturnal); on summer days, they often rest in trees. They do not hibernate, but sleep in and stay close to their dens in winter.

Chandra Wirthz

Pundit

Can you touch a porcupine?

Porcupines have soft hair, but on their back, sides, and tail it is usually mixed with sharp quills. Porcupines cannot shoot them at predators as once thought, but the quills do detach easily when touched.

Iuliana Hobbes

Pundit

Can a porcupine kill a snake?

An African python dies prematurely after eating a 30-pound porcupine, but that's not what killed it. Unusual circumstances led to the premature death of one of the world's largest species of snakes, the African rock python, on June 20. (Warning: graphic images of the snake's insides below.)

Serine Plumhoff

Pundit

What happens if a snake eats a porcupine?

In the 2003 study, entitled "Prickly food: snakes preying upon porcupines," researchers found that when a snake eats a porcupine, the animal's quills are left undigested and are easily detectable in the snake's gut. Sometimes, the quills will even pierce all the way through the snake's body, according to the study.

Nessrine Vajorov

Teacher

What is the purpose of a porcupine?

Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predators.

Cleo Zipperstein

Teacher

What animal eats python snakes?

Pythons have predators. Small, young pythons may be attacked and eaten by a variety of birds, wild dogs and hyenas, large frogs, large insects and spiders, and even other snakes. But adult pythons are also at risk from birds of prey and even lions and leopards.

Luna Rybicki

Teacher

What are porcupines favorite food?

In the spring and summer, porcupines shift to eating berries, seeds, grasses, leaves, roots and stems. At the Smithsonian's National Zoo, the porcupines eat herbivore pellets and a variety of fruits, vegetables and greens. Their favorite food item is corn on the cob.

Mirko Wyatt

Teacher

How Pythons kill their prey?

When pythons and boas are killing prey, they use a kind of ambush technique in which they'll jump out at you and strike at you and grab you with their teeth. They'll seize the prey item with their teeth and simultaneously wrap their coil around it and squeeze.

Igon Singhofen

Reviewer

How do porcupines reproduce?

When the female is ready to mate, she'll present her hindquarters and curve her tail over her back so that her quills don't impale the male. Interestingly, Old World porcupines mate again soon after the female gives birth. "But it's a sterile mating, and no baby is produced," Roze said.

Kyra Meyerrose

Reviewer

Are porcupines aggressive?

If the porcupine hits an animal with its quills, the quills become embedded in the animal. The porcupine is not an aggressive animal. It will only attack if it is threatened. Some animals, like the fisher, are experts at attacking porcupines.

Teodosia Hanson

Reviewer

What do porcupines smell like?

Smell ya later: Porcupines are pungent.
One of the olfactory signals porcupines use is a pungent odor that lets potential predators know they've raised their quills and they're not afraid to use them. The chemical compound is R-delta-decalactone, but the smell is indescribable as anything but porcupine, Roze says.

Ara Neno

Reviewer

Do porcupines bite?

With the smaller animals, you also have to be careful they don't curl up and bite you while you hold them. “They do bite,” Coltrane said she soon learned. Porcupines do not, however, shoot quills like many people commonly believe.