With thousands of razer-sharp reasons to stay away, the Porcupine is a marvel of natural engineering. Even scientists are learning from their design.
This little ball of fluff is a porcupine. They have 30,000 quills all over their body, a clumsy gate, and an adorable little nose. These little guys are not the sort of animal you want to meet in a forest, because when you get a quill in you (or a dozen quills) they hurt.
But porcupines shoot out their quills, right? Not so, actually. According to the video description, “porcupines do not shoot their quills out. That’s a myth. Porcupine quills are held by their skin in a way that makes them difficult to fall out unless pushed in first, usually by contact with an attacker. The tail moves so quickly that it can appear that it is shooting the quills out.”
