Dr. Tim Bean

Yeah, welding gloves, like thick, heavy leather gloves is generally the recommendation. There's a spot under their tail that doesn't have any quills, and their tail is super strong. It's almost like a fifth thick.

appendage that they use to help climb and so that's generally how people try to pick them up is like get your hand under the tail and grab them there and then you can kind of pick them up but at that point like you got to anesthetize them if you're really going to handle them and measure them and put a collar on and all that stuff

appendage that they use to help climb and so that's generally how people try to pick them up is like get your hand under the tail and grab them there and then you can kind of pick them up but at that point like you got to anesthetize them if you're really going to handle them and measure them and put a collar on and all that stuff

appendage that they use to help climb and so that's generally how people try to pick them up is like get your hand under the tail and grab them there and then you can kind of pick them up but at that point like you got to anesthetize them if you're really going to handle them and measure them and put a collar on and all that stuff

No, their junk is hidden away most of the time. So it's actually like retracted into the body, which makes it easier to climb, right? Like they're right up against the tree when they're climbing.

No, their junk is hidden away most of the time. So it's actually like retracted into the body, which makes it easier to climb, right? Like they're right up against the tree when they're climbing.

No, their junk is hidden away most of the time. So it's actually like retracted into the body, which makes it easier to climb, right? Like they're right up against the tree when they're climbing.

Yeah, they are. They're modified hairs. So they're made of keratin and you sort of look at the evolutionary lineage of porcupines and There's like the species called spiny rats that have spines that are closely related. And then you can kind of see like other porcupines have less evolved quills.

Yeah, they are. They're modified hairs. So they're made of keratin and you sort of look at the evolutionary lineage of porcupines and There's like the species called spiny rats that have spines that are closely related. And then you can kind of see like other porcupines have less evolved quills.

Yeah, they are. They're modified hairs. So they're made of keratin and you sort of look at the evolutionary lineage of porcupines and There's like the species called spiny rats that have spines that are closely related. And then you can kind of see like other porcupines have less evolved quills.

And then you've got the North American porcupines that have these really highly modified quills that are really awful if you get them in you.

And then you've got the North American porcupines that have these really highly modified quills that are really awful if you get them in you.

And then you've got the North American porcupines that have these really highly modified quills that are really awful if you get them in you.

So North American porcupine quills have backwards facing barbs. The quill itself is sharp. It gets in you. And then there are these backward facing barbs that make it very difficult and painful to pull back out. And then they also, the backward facing barb means that if you don't pull it out, the quill will start to work its way into you further and further or your dog.

So North American porcupine quills have backwards facing barbs. The quill itself is sharp. It gets in you. And then there are these backward facing barbs that make it very difficult and painful to pull back out. And then they also, the backward facing barb means that if you don't pull it out, the quill will start to work its way into you further and further or your dog.

So North American porcupine quills have backwards facing barbs. The quill itself is sharp. It gets in you. And then there are these backward facing barbs that make it very difficult and painful to pull back out. And then they also, the backward facing barb means that if you don't pull it out, the quill will start to work its way into you further and further or your dog.

And then that becomes a real problem if it actually gets in your body and you got to go in and get it out.

And then that becomes a real problem if it actually gets in your body and you got to go in and get it out.

And then that becomes a real problem if it actually gets in your body and you got to go in and get it out.

Yeah, all of those. And it's really confusing. So there's two families, capital F, of porcupines. There's the Hystricidae, which are the African Eurasian porcupines, and there's like 11 species of those. And then totally separately is the family of North and South American porcupines, Eurythizontidae, where there's about 20 species of those.