Longer legs or wings force most of the porcupine’s predators to strike from above, where there is no gap in the shield of quills. I can tell you about porcupines from Canada, and echidnas from Australia. A porcupine spends most of its time in trees, where it is safe from terrestrial assailants. Vermont had a similar reintroduction program, said Faccio, which was partly prompted by the desire to control porcupine numbers. White-tailed … Predators sometimes … All 4 paws have 5 toes with semi-retractable claws that make tree climbing a breeze for these agile hunters. A porcupine’s face is its only unprotected portion other than its belly, and the fisher has evolved quickness and agility in order to take advantage of this gap in the porcupine’s armor. As dawn breaks, a fisher has discovered its favorite prey, a porcupine, descending a tree. Speed and sheer determination help the fisher execute the kill. This tactic may work for many predators, but it is useless against the fisher. This long, sleek creature will use its supreme arboreal abilities to chase a porcupine up a tree and wear down its prey before attacking. To them, our native weasel’s fur appeared similar to European polecat (a wild ferret) fur for which the French word is fichet or ficheux. She lives in Westwood near Lake Almanor among her life long friends and her family. Longer legs or wings force most of the porcupine’s predators to strike from above, where there is no gap in the shield of quills. Though the porcupines seem to be fully protected in their prickly suit of armor, there is one animal that has adapted to take advantage of a weakness in their shield. The fisher eats the porcupine by flipping the dead animal over and starting with its unprotected belly. Weight:Female adults weigh 6 to 8 pounds, and males weigh up to 18 pounds. Testing out imovie with some short clips from the other day, so far im liking it "What exactly is a weed? The fisher then jumps directly over its prey, forcing the porcupine to keep turning to protect its vulnerable head. Their primary prey include hares, rabbits, squirrels, mice, shrews, porcupines, and sometimes domesticated animals. The porcupine in turn spins around to point its spines at the fisher. The fisher is one of the few animals able to get past the porcupine’s formidable defences. It rapidly strikes the face of the porcupine in order to injure its prey. As I hike along a well-worn trail, I see two gorgeous American White Pelicans soaring to an unknown destination. Fishers are the largest of the marten family ranging in size from 4 to 9 pounds with males being nearly twice the size of females. As he winces back to my side, I begin to wonder what type of animal has the ability to prey upon a porcupine without receiving a penalty for its meal. Rodents were the most common order of animal consumed and porcupine (a large rodent) parts were found in 11 percent of the stomachs. It is one of the few animals that eats porcupine. Fishers, a large member of the weasel family are known to hunt and eat porcupines. Often, the attack can take over a half an hour until the fisher can inflict a lethal bite. A dozen or more such maneuvers suffice to exhaust and confuse the porcupine into a stupor in which it can no longer protect itself. Around 1900, the fisher, for all practical purposes, was extinct in Vermont, and the population of porcupines increased so dramatically that it was necessary to put a bounty on them. Porcupines may be safe from fisher attacks when they are on branches and facing away from the fisher, or when they are in a position to hide their faces in a crevice or hole. Fishers, Martes pennanti , were reintroduced in Northern Michigan in order to limit the porcupine population growth. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 5), Freshwater Diatoms: Small, Slimy, Stream Quality Monitors. Often, young of the year and eggs make easy targets. 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