We live in the foothills of the Appennino Tosco Emiliano, an area full of an incredible variety of wildlife. Here the wild animals are really wild, and they don’t rely on humans for their survival like many of the animals which now live in parks and city suburbs. The wildlife around here prefers to avoid humans by hiding in the thick of the forest that was heavily worked by man until 30-40 years ago, but is now mostly abandoned and reverting back to wilderness. So, in our walks along the old trails that thread through the woods we often encounter traces of wild animals but rarely see them. One of the traces that we have found on several occasions are the beautiful aculei di istrice (porcupine’s quills), however, after over six years of exploring this area we had never managed to see an istrice …until …

“I just don’t know what to do with my hair today!”

A few evenings ago I was driving back from Pontremoli in the dark when, just a few hundred meters from home, I saw a strange animal on the opposite side of the road ahead of me. It was something grey and fluffy, or so it looked to me: “un lupo!” (a wolf!) was my first wishful thought. I slowed down, switched off the headlights and had a better look: era uno, no, due istrici che procedevano con la loro andatura goffa e gli aculei ritti! (it was one, no two porcupines who were going along with their awkward gait and the quills standing up!) I drove home with my heart pounding. I couldn’t wait to tell Geoff!

Don’t try this at home folks!

L’istrice crestata (the Crested porcupine) is an indigenous inhabitant here in Italy, and is considered the biggest rodent in Europe, in fact it can grow to a weight of over 27 kg (60 lb). It is called the Crested porcupine due to the fact that the quills on its head and shoulders are particularly long, and when it is threatened, it raises its quills as a deterrent, creating a crest on its body. According to popular belief the porcupine can shoot its quills at its enemies. This is a pretty cool idea, but sadly it’s not true. However, the quills do detach easily when touched, and it’s not rare for its attacker to come away from the confrontation with its snout pierced by quills, which can penetrate for up to 10 centimetres … ouch!

“I sorted that pesky porcupine out!”

The loss of its quills does not harm the porcupine, because they grow back again quickly. In case you’re wondering, baby porcupines are born with soft quills, a fact for which mummy porcupines are very grateful! The quills then harden within the first 10 days.

Ahhh, all soft and cuddly wuddly …

The porcupine is an herbivore, but outside its den you can find gnawed bones, because being a rodent it needs to file down its incisor teeth. Porcupines are particularly greedy for ripe grapes: they get hold of the lower bunches with their mouths and suck them without braking the stalk from the plant. They are nocturnal animals, therefore their hearing and smell are well developed, while their eyesight is very poor.

“Look mummy, I’m gonna stwoke the luvly puddy cat!”

Porcupines are very shy animals, usually choosing to live amongst thick vegetation not far from cultivated area, so I was very lucky to see them … and Geoff was very jealous!