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North American porcupine

Erethizon dorsatum · also called quill pig, porky, porkie and common porcupine · Last checked November 3, 2026.

A North American porcupine walks across bare sandy ground, its long yellow-tipped quills covering its arched back and tail.
Adult walking on sandy ground, showing yellow-tipped quills and high-arched back Photo: The Cosmonaut · CC BY-SA 2.5 ca · Wikimedia Commons · resized

The North American porcupine is a slow-moving, quill-covered rodent of forests, found in the East from New England south into Pennsylvania, across the northern Midwest and Pacific Northwest, down the Rocky Mountains, and north to Alaska. It cannot throw its quills, but quills stick on contact, and pets can be seriously injured. Pennsylvania Game Commission

On this page
  1. Is it dangerous?
  2. How to identify it
  3. Where it lives
  4. When it is active
  5. Habitat and habits
  6. Legal status and reporting
  7. Sources

Is the North American porcupine dangerous?

Porcupines cannot throw quills; a person must touch a quill for it to stick. Pets can be seriously or very painfully injured. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

“…cannot throw their quills at you or your pets. You must actually touch the quill even very slightly for it to stick in you. If you leave porcupines alone, they will continue on their way and leave you alone. However, most of our pets have not learned that lesson and they can be seriously or very painfully injured from encounters with porcupines.”

How to identify a North American porcupine

A photo or description can narrow it down, but cannot confirm what an animal is or that it is safe. Look from a distance and do not handle wild animals.

Close-up of a porcupine's dark face and small eyes surrounded by long pale-tipped quills and guard hairs.
Close-up of face framed by white-banded quills Photo: Colin Canterbury/USFWS · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
A small, dark, fuzzy young porcupine rests among dry branches and fallen leaves.
Young porcupine with dark fur and short quills among fallen branches Photo: Dawn Nelson · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist
A porcupine with pale yellowish quills sits in the fork of a bare tree against a blue sky.
Porcupine resting in a leafless cottonwood tree Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Size: Adults about 30 inches including a 6- to 10-inch tail, 9 to 15 pounds, older adults up to 20 pounds (Pennsylvania). Massachusetts: 25-31 inches, averaging 12 pounds in early spring to 20 in fall. Minnesota: 24 to 40 inches, 18 to 35 pounds. Pennsylvania Game Commission

Colors: Salty-black to brownish-black, with yellow- or white-tipped hairs; dark gray to black with white-banded quills. Pattern: Black and white quills on back, sides and tail.

Key features

Young

The young, a "pup" or "porcupette", weighs about a pound, is fully furred, and has soft quills that harden as they dry.

Where the North American porcupine lives

Texas: on the state's official listCalifornia: on the state's official listWisconsin: on the state's official listVirginia: on the state's official listNew York: on an official sourceIdaho: on the state's official listMontana: on the state's official listMinnesota: on the state's official listMaryland: on the state's official listIowa: on the state's official listOhio: on an official sourceNebraska: on the state's official listWashington: on the state's official listSouth Dakota: on the state's official listColorado: on the state's official listOklahoma: on the state's official listWyoming: on the state's official listWest Virginia: on the state's official listMassachusetts: on the state's official listNevada: on the state's official listPennsylvania: on the state's official listMaine: on the state's official listRhode Island: on the state's official listAlaska: on the state's official listNew Mexico: on the state's official listKansas: on the state's official listVermont: on the state's official listNew Jersey: on the state's official listArizona: on the state's official list
Official presence. 29 states where a state list or official source names it. Gray means no official record in our data, not that it is absent.
  • Native or listed
  • Nonnative or not established
  • No official record in our data
Texas: 282 recordsCalifornia: 21 recordsWisconsin: 82 recordsOregon: 11 recordsNew York: 531 recordsIdaho: 23 recordsMontana: 25 recordsMinnesota: 56 recordsMaryland: 4 recordsNebraska: 25 recordsWashington: 30 recordsSouth Dakota: 17 recordsColorado: 50 recordsUtah: 34 recordsOklahoma: 11 recordsWyoming: 12 recordsWest Virginia: 1 recordMassachusetts: 72 recordsNevada: 1 recordNorth Dakota: 5 recordsPennsylvania: 94 recordsMaine: 125 recordsConnecticut: 10 recordsMichigan: 103 recordsAlaska: 116 recordsNew Mexico: 58 recordsKansas: 5 recordsVermont: 505 recordsNew Jersey: 8 recordsNew Hampshire: 233 recordsArizona: 10 records
Observation records. Open-licence records on GBIF in 31 states. Records are sightings people shared, not confirmation that a population lives there.
  • 1–9
  • 10–99
  • 100–999
  • 1,000+

On our state guides

State boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file cb_2024_us_state_20m.

When it is active

Mostly nocturnal, though may be active by day (Alaska). Does not hibernate (Pennsylvania). Alaska Department of Fish and Game

US open-licence records peak in April to July and October.

2,594 US records by month (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY). Shows when people record it, not how many there are.

Habitat and habits

Habitat: Forests, rarely far from woody vegetation; mixed hardwood and conifer woodlands with dens in rock crevices, caves and hollow trees. In West Texas also rocky areas, ridges and slopes. Pennsylvania Game Commission

Behavior: Slow and clumsy on the ground, more at home in trees. When threatened it first tries to escape to a tree or den; otherwise it erects its quills, turns its back and flails its muscular tail. Does not hibernate.

Diet: Vegetarian: herbaceous plants in summer; needles, twigs and inner bark in winter. Seeks out salt, including road salt and plywood.

Young: Breeds in autumn (September into November in Pennsylvania). Females almost always have one young, born April to June after 205-217 days.

Legal status and reporting

Protection: Varies by state: unprotected in Minnesota and non-game/not protected in Montana; New Mexico lists it as Species of Greatest Conservation Need 2025. Check the state record. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Report: Virginia DWR asks the public to report porcupine sightings: https://virginiawildlife.gov/report-rare-animals (link on its page). No national contact found. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources

Sources

  1. Porcupine (Wildlife Note). Pennsylvania Game Commission. undated page; checked November 3, 2026.
    Quoted passages (8)
    “Adult porcupines are about 30 inches in length, including a 6- to 10-inch tail. They weigh 9 to 15 pounds, with bigger, older adults weighing up to 20 pounds.”
    “An individual may have up to 30,000 quills.”
    “Porcupines have four incisors—two above and two below that are bright orange, strong and adapted to gnawing.”
    “The quills are soft and hair-like, about a quarter-inch long, but they become hard and functional as they dry.”
    “Porcupines are very dependent on trees for food and cover, and therefore rarely are found far from woody vegetation.”
    “Porcupines are vegetarians.”
    “When threatened, a porcupine will first try to escape to safety in a tree or den.”
    “Females that do become impregnated almost always produce just one offspring.”
  2. Living With Porcupines. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Internet Archive copy dated 2026-05-24; checked November 3, 2026.
    Quoted passages (1)
    “…cannot throw their quills at you or your pets. You must actually touch the quill even very slightly for it to stick in you. If you leave porcupines alone, they will continue on their way and leave you alone. However, most of our pets have not learned that lesson and they can be seriously or very painfully injured from encounters with porcupines.”
  3. DWR Needs Your Help to Track Rare and Elusive Animals. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. Last-Modified 2026-10-29 (page meta; checked November 3, 2026.
    Quoted passages (2)
    “This is the only mammal in North America that has coat hairs that are modified as quills.”
    “More about the porcupine Report a porcupine sighting”
  4. Learn about porcupines. Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (mass.gov). Internet Archive copy dated 2025-09-10; checked November 3, 2026.
    Quoted passages (1)
    “They are a medium-sized, pigeon-toed animal with short legs, long claws, and a high-arching back.”
  5. North American Porcupine Species Profile. Alaska Department of Fish and Game. undated page; checked November 3, 2026.
    Quoted passages (1)
    “Porcupines may be active in the day but are mostly nocturnal.”
  6. Porcupine. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Internet Archive copy dated 2026-05-24; checked November 3, 2026.
    Quoted passages (1)
    “The porcupine is unprotected in Minnesota.”
  7. GBIF.org occurrence records, human observations licensed CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, accessed November 3, 2026. The datasets behind these counts are listed on our Sources page.
  8. State boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file cb_2024_us_state_20m.