American porcupine

The animal with the itchy back

Commonly known as the “coquau bear”—a surprising name for a rodent—its scientific name, Erzethizon dorsatum, can be translated as “the animal with the prickly back.” As for the term “porc-épic,” derived from Old French, it means “spiny pig”… It is the only mammal in North America covered in quills—nearly 30,000 of them—which helps keep its enemies at bay! With a rather stocky build, this remarkable animal is the second-largest rodent on the continent, after the beaver.

Solitary and nocturnal by nature, it does not hibernate and is most active at dawn and dusk. Its highly unique lifestyle adapts to the seasons: in winter, it leads a primarily arboreal life, feeding on bark; in the warmer months, it becomes more terrestrial, feeding on understory plants.