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Porcupine small on Blackwood base
4cm Average
101-735 ...... 106 USD
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The largest rodent in Africa at 24 kilograms, the African porcupine is not an easy target for predators. Long, black-and-white spines cover its body and tail, which it vibrates to make a loud warning rattle when disturbed.
Porcupines are nocturnal, and live in borrowed burrows or small caves, foraging at night for their favourite food: tubers and roots. They are also very fond of bones (and it is said that they especially relish ivory if they find an elephant carcass). This may be to keep their front teeth sharp.
No one really knows how porcupines manage to mate, but one or a pair of young are born in summer - their quills harden within days and they can then be seen following their mother around on the nightly foraging trips.
When attacked, they raise their quills and rush sideways and backwards, trying to impale their antagonist.
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