Describes the physical characteristics, behavior, and natural defenses of the porcupine.

Porcupines are brown, prickly, and climb trees. Readers explore life in a group of porcupines inside the pages of this educational and enjoyable book. When a group of porcupines gets together, they’re called a prickle. Porcupines often have a bad reputation as dangerous creatures, but they usually just want to be left alone. Thanks to numerous eye-catching photographs, readers get closer to porcupines than ever before. They also learn fascinating facts about prickles of porcupines through accessible text and a helpful graphic organizer.

Porcupines are North America's second-largest rodent, with only the beaver surpassing it. They are alive and well, but most people have never seen one in the wild. They are cute, chubby, walk with a wobble, but just not very cuddly. The reason? They have quills sharper than hypodermic needles on their body, up to 30,000. These herbivores are unique in that they are one of the few northern mammals that do not hibernate or enter torpor. Instead, they den up in prickles and then manage to live off some of the least nutrient flora in the wintertime. This book will help you understand porcupines and what they eat, how they act, and why they are so good at surviving hostile winters and hot summers.

Some of the greatest inventions that changed the modern world have been based on nature. In Porcupine Quills to Needles, readers will discover how the invention of needles were inspired by the porcupine quills. Book includes table of contents, glossary, index, author biographies, and sidebars.

Porcupines are prickly and often misunderstood creatures—get the facts. Could a porcupine make a good pet? Do they ever stick themselves or other porcupines with their quills? In this latest addition to the Animal Answer Guide series, we learn about these mysterious animals' "pincushion defense," along with the following facts: • Porcupines survive on a diet of leaves, bark, and fruit • Quills are actually modified hairs • There are 26 species of porcupines (and counting) • Old World and New World porcupines have a common ancestor but evolved independently • New World males will gather to fight ferociously over a single female Porcupines: The Animal Answer Guide presents solid, current science in the field of porcupine biology. Uldis Roze compares and contrasts porcupines in terms of body plan, behavior, ecology, reproduction, and evolutionary relationships. He examines the diversity of porcupines from around the world—from North and South America to Africa and Asia. This guide explores the interactions between humans and porcupines, including hunting, use of quills by aboriginal societies, efforts to poison porcupines, and human and pet injuries (and deaths) caused by porcupines. Roze also highlights the conservation issues that surround some porcupine species, such as the thin-spine porcupine of Brazil, which is so rare that it was thought to be extinct until its rediscovery in the 1980s.

It’s easy to picture hugging a bunny, or even a billy goat…but how would you even begin to try to hug a porcupine? After seeing all his friends hug their favorite animals, one brave boy must grapple with this very question. Eventually he works up the courage to hug a porcupine—but the porcupine isn’t so sure he wants to be hugged! The surprise ending to this humorous tale, complete with charming illustrations, will have kids begging to hear this fun read-aloud again and again!

"Long and sympathetic watching, radio tracking, chemical analysis are all part of this naturalist's ingenious and peaceable arsenal of inquiry into the lives of porcupines."--Scientific American