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Porcupine

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North American porcupine is reported to have been consumed by many cultures across Canada. Its importance in the diet varied depending on culture. Malecite referred to Micmac as “porcupine Indians”, testament to the importance of porcupine to that culture [76].
Several cultures including Inuit of Hopedale [62], Champagne and Aishihik and Vuntut Gwitchin (Gwich’in) [6] have described a decline in numbers of porcupine in their area over the decades.

Hunting

Many northern cultures only killed porcupine if there were no other sources of food – an effort to ensure availability of the animal in times of scarcity. Catching a porcupine was described as relatively easy given the slow and awkward movement of the animal on the ground

A variety of methods were used to kill porcupine. Cultures that struck the animal with a club or stick included Upper Liard Kaska and Tselona Kaska (in winter, Tselona Kaska smoked the porcupine out of its house before clubbing) [4], Vuntut Gwitchin [16], Tlingit [33], Tahltan [17], Blackfoot [44], Mistissini Cree [49] and Waswanipi Cree [52]. Hare (Sahtu) [21], Vuntut Gwitchin [15], Chipewyan [11] and Sioux [63] used rifles when they became available. Kutchin used deadfall or babiche snares [9], Montagnais (Innu) [42] and Micmac (Mi'kmaq) [38] used snares, Spokane used traps and snares [69]. Chipewyan hunted porcupine in fall prior to appearance of caribou [11].

Tutchone, Tagish and Tlingit either clubbed or shot porcupine [72]. Kutchin hunted porcupine in fall and winter when the animals were slow moving and fat, therefore provided substantial nourishment; they were easy to track by finding prints in the snow, or freshly gnawed patches on spruce tree trunks. If the animal was found in a tree, the tree was chopped down and the animal was clubbed or the animal was shot with a rifle. Occasionally a trap was used at the opening of its burrow. Kutchin did not hunt them in spring and summer when the animal was less fatty [74]. Hare only shot porcupine if they happened to encounter it in the bush [21].

Preparation

Several cooking methods have been documented. Many groups including Bella Coola (Nuxalk) [25], Gitksan [60], Tlingit [30], Tutchone [5], Upper Tanana [7], Fort Nelson Slave (Dene) [10], Vuntut Gwitchin [16], Chipewyan [11], Algonquin [37], Mistassini Cree [49], Penobscot [65], Kutchin [74], Southern Tutchone [72] and Hare [21] placed the whole animal over/in a fire to singe off quills prior to cooking the meat. Kutchin believed that singeing improved the flavor of the meat. Kutchin [74], Southern Tutchone [72] and Hare [21] boiled the meat after singeing. Southern Tutchone also roasted the meat [72]. The whole porcupine was roasted over a fire by Tlingit [30], Blackfoot [44], Algonquin [37], Micmac [39], Fort George Cree [48] and Penobscot [65]. Tutchone [5], Upper Tanana [7], Vuntut Gwitchin [15, 16], Chipewyan [11] and Mistissini Cree [49] boiled the flesh. Bella Coola smoked the meat over a campfire [25]. Fort Nelson Slave broiled the meat [10]. Tlingit consumed porcupine fresh, but also hung the meat in the house to dry or preserved it in grease/fat for winter [30]. Slavey (Sahtu) women rendered the fat from porcupine [43]. Mistassini Cree considered porcupine fetuses to be a delicacy [49].

Uses other than food

North American porcupine quills were also important to many cultures. Lillooet were said to have used the quills [23, 24]. Tahltan used quills to make bows and tintacks [18]. Tlingit used quills to decorate clothing, baskets, blankets and mats [32].The quills were used by Algonquin as decoration on birch bark baskets, moccasins and tunics, as an aid in medicine, and as a bartering tool for food [37]. Gitksan [60], Tahltan [17], Slavey [14], Kutchin [9], Hare (Sahtu) [21], Blackfoot [44], Western Abenaki [56] used quills to decorate clothing. Micmac used quills to decorate birch bark containers [38], as well as pottery and clothing [76]; Chipewyan embroidered clothing and decorated bark [75]; Hare embroidered shoes [21]; Tutchone, Tagish and Tlingit decorated clothing [72]. Micmac also used quills to draw sap from the maple tree [76].

Beliefs and taboos

Several cultures used porcupine for medicinal purposes. Eyak nursing mothers would drink porcupine soup to promote lactation [66]. Iroquois rubbed porcupine oil on the back and chest of new-born infants to alleviate “cramps” [61]. Micmac of Richibucto used porcupine urine to treat hearing defects and porcupine oil as a physic for newborn infants [76]; Tutchone and Tagish dropped porcupine fetuses down the dresses of young girls, believing that this would ensure easy deliveries for the girls in the future [72].

Several taboos were described regarding porcupine. Kaska avoided porcupine brains, believing them to have a negative effect on the body [4] and Chipewyan avoided consuming the tail, fearing it would make them too fat [12]. Tagish girls did not eat porcupine during puberty seclusion in order to avoid skin blemishes in spring (the season when porcupines shed their quills). Tlingit girls did not eat porcupine before four winters passed following the first menses and Tlingit widows avoided porcupine for two years after the death of the husband [72].

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The North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) is a large gnawing mammal, or rodent, and is widespread in North America, occurring from eastern Canada and the northeastern states to the Great Plains, the Rockies, and Alaska. They occupy a variety of habitats, from dense coniferous forests to open tundra and from sea level to high alpine regions.

They are the only member of their mainly South American family with a northward distribution reaching North America. They are the second largest rodent with adults typically weighing 7 kg. North American porcupines are also quite unique in being covered by long yellowish or grayish white quills that they can erect when threatened. They are quite bulky with a large head, a dark flattened face, small eyes, short limbs, and long claws. They do not have good eye sight, but have very developed senses of smell and hearing.

North American porcupines are most often solitary, except during the winter in rocky areas where they may den communally. They generally mate in the fall when males become less sedentary and sluggish sometimes fighting among them. After a long gestation of over 200 days, each female produce one young that is developed enough to adopt a defensive posture with erected quills soon after birth and to feed on its own within one week. Young will still remain with their mother until the next breeding season. Porcupines live for more than 10 years.

In the winter, porcupines feed mainly on bark, especially from coniferous trees, by scraping it off from the trunk and branches with their long, sharp teeth. They can spend a lot of time foraging in the same tree and pellets can accumulate at the base of that tree. Over the course of the winter, they loose a lot of their body mass, but quickly gain it back during the summer. As soon as spring arrives, they move down from trees and start foraging on the ground, feeding on new plant growth, especially on grass, sedge, and wildflower stems. Because of their quills, porcupines have very few predators, but fishers, coyotes, cougars, bobcats, wolves, owls, and ravens are known to prey on them.

Porcupines are common and widespread, but population seems to go through cycles, with peaks in abundance every 12 to 20 years. They can reach densities of up to 12 individuals per square km and as low as 0.8 individuals per square km. Their home range varies seasonally, covering close to 15 hectares in the summer, but only around 5 hectares in the winter.

Reference

Wilson DE, Ruff S: The Smithsonian book of North American mammals. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press; 1999.

 
Images provided below were obtained from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History - North American Mammals. Available from http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/.
North American porcupine
Credit: painting by Todd Zalewski from Kays and Wilson's Mammals of North America, © Princeton University Press (2002)
Credit: Data provided by NatureServe in collaboration with Bruce Patterson, Wes Sechrest, Marcelo Tognelli, Gerardo Ceballos, The Nature Conservancy — Migratory Bird Program, Conservation International — CABS, World Wildlife Fund — US, and Environment Canada — WILDSPACE.
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