Porcupines spend much of their time in trees and are strong climbers. Some are able to use their prehensile tails to aid in climbing. It was once believed that porcupines were able to shoot their quills at predators, but this has been proven to be untrue. ¹⁾.

The name porcupine comes from the Old French word porc d’espine, which means “thorny pig.” There are also Old English variants that include “porcupyne” and “porcapyne.” ²⁾.