00:00 The porcupine is misleading with its appearance because its quills beckon to its cell to stroke them.
00:07 This is a joke, of course.
00:10 Sometimes it seemed that rodents were specially created in order to spoil the lives of people.
00:17 Mice undermine our economy through the destruction of provisions.
00:21 Rats have been carrying dangerous diseases for centuries.
00:25 And crested porcupines, for example, injure people, beat against cars and kill lions.
00:32 And not only lions, now you will see for yourself.
00:36 Yes, the same porcupine that everyone has ever seen in documentaries about animals is called crested.
00:43 It lives on the plains of North and Equatorial Africa, India and also in Italy.
00:51 It was brought to Italy by the ancient Romans. What for?
00:55 Well, how do you say it? The giant ponk rat is amazing.
00:59 We remind you just in case. Hedgehogs and porcupines have nothing to do with each other.
01:05 Porcupines are rodents and hedgehogs are insectivores.
01:09 By the way, the king of France, Louis XII, chose not a lion, not a tiger, not even a wolf, but a porcupine as his symbol.
01:20 What does it mean? If anyone knows, please answer in the comments.
01:24 Well, dear friend, are you afraid to meet a huge rodent that roams Africa and scares the big wild cats?
01:31 If not, then subscribe to the channel and let's get started.
01:49 The crested porcupine is one of the three largest rodents in the world.
01:53 Its weight can reach up to 30 kilograms and its body length can reach up to 70 and even 90 centimeters.
02:01 Porcupines are herbivores. Without a twinge of conscience, they eat fruits, leaves and bark.
02:09 And once on a farm plantation, the porcupine will massacre all the fruits and shoots.
02:15 He especially likes to eat pumpkin, zucchini and watermelons.
02:20 But he can not only gnaw watermelons and melons, but also greatly spoil the earth digging it up.
02:27 Barriers do not always save crops from porcupine raids, because the powerful and sharp incisors of this rodent allow it to gnaw through even wire mesh.
02:38 And porcupines often bite the hoses of the irrigation system to drink water.
02:43 And who's going to stop them?
02:45 The porcupine is capable of killing even a lion with squeals, to say nothing of unfortunate farmers.
02:52 Out of 40 big cats attacking a porcupine, 10 will die for sure.
02:57 Although, as noted above, porcupines do not like meat, they often chew the bones they find in order to sharpen their teeth with their help.
03:11 Rodents get important minerals from bones, such as salt and calcium.
03:15 From time to time, porcupines can also eat small bugs and lizards.
03:20 But the most important thing is that they turn their punk hair into a full-fledged weapon.
03:27 Yes, porcupine quills are wool, but just very and very tough.
03:32 Porcupine quills are of two types.
03:35 The first, long and flexible, reach a length of 40 cm.
03:39 The second are shorter and harder, only 15 to 25 cm long.
03:44 An already rather big rodent turns into a dangerous machine for destroying enemies.
03:50 But the porcupine never attacks first.
03:54 In the event of a threat, the animal first stamps its feet and crackles loudly with needles.
04:01 A frightening sound is obtained, like a motorcycle is starting, scaring away the predator.
04:08 [sound of a motorcycle]
04:12 But if that doesn't work, then arrows come into action.
04:21 Unlike hedgehogs, whose quills are firmly attached to the body, porcupines easily part with their quills.
04:29 A careless predator, as a result of an unsuccessful attack, can easily get several hundred needles that will remain sticking out in his body.
04:38 And in place of the lost needles, porcupines will soon grow new ones.
04:44 According to various sources, a porcupine, on average, changes several thousand of its quills during its life.
04:51 In short, a porcupine is capable of making a kind of pincushion out of a predator.
04:58 The needles enter the body so deeply that they touch the vital organs.
05:02 And this is just the beginning.
05:05 If the surviving predator fails to pull out the quills of the porcupine, this predator will most likely die.
05:11 The fact is that having run into porcupine quills, pulling them out just like that will not work.
05:18 You haven't forgotten that their spikes are wool, right?
05:21 So both in us and in porcupines, the hair is covered with scales.
05:26 This is what a porcupine quill looks like under a microscope.
05:29 So the quills of the porcupine turn into improved arrows.
05:33 They go easily in, but come out with hellish pain.
05:38 And if the needle is not pulled out, it will penetrate the body itself.
05:43 With each movement, the victim drives it deeper.
05:46 And all this, again, because of these ill-fated scales.
05:50 Numerous wounds cause inflammation. The needle is pain.
05:55 A variety of bacteria accumulate on their needles, so a prick with a porcupine needle can easily lead to a serious illness.
06:03 The predator, exhausted by suffering and ulcers, becomes weak.
06:08 It can no longer hunt its main prey.
06:11 Therefore, leopards, lions, and other predators switch to more defenseless rations.
06:17 Adult predators avoid porcupines.
06:21 All the animals of Africa are aware that the porcupine is a deadly spicy food.
06:26 But young, unexperienced predators very often run into needles and learn a valuable lesson.
06:33 Don't touch this hedgehog rat!
06:36 The spiny rodent is hunted exclusively in cases where no other prey can be found.
06:47 For example, in the drier regions of Africa, there the porcupine becomes prey three times more often.
06:53 But all the same, the predator that killed the porcupine and quenched the feeling of hunger with its flesh,
06:59 eventually dies after a while, although well fed.
07:02 By the way, with regard to porcupine quills.
07:07 In large adults, the number of needles on the body can reach up to 30,000 pieces.
07:14 (Sounds of porcupine quills)
07:16 No wonder that from such protection the porcupine lost all vigilance, which is why he himself is now suffering.
07:30 Giant rats accustomed to special treatment from the local fauna are not afraid to roam the roads and farms.
07:39 The logic is simple - everyone avoids them, so people will too.
07:43 Alas, the rodent does not know about the existence of firearms and cars,
07:48 and more and more often dies from a bullet or under the wheels.
07:52 However, they continue to cling to life with admirable tenacity.
07:57 Until the age of 2-3 years, males and females play hard-nosed social phobes
08:03 and stay away from any other members of their species.
08:08 And then - a spark, a storm, madness, a joint mortgage for life and several generations of children.
08:15 If the North African populations still somehow restrain their love impulses,
08:20 then the South African ones manage to make 2-3 broods of children in one year.
08:26 And this is during pregnancy for a period of 110 days.
08:33 Unfortunately, youth care is minimal - babies are born sighted, toothy and quite mobile.
08:38 After two weeks, their soft fur turns into hard spines.
08:42 At the same time, the mother stops feeding its children with milk, because no one likes a punctured belly.
08:49 So, our estimate for crested porcupines is 33 misfortunes.
08:55 That is how many problems they can bring in 15-20 years of their lives.
09:01 In general, they are cool guys, but also dangerous.
09:04 There is an opinion that the porcupine is not a very friendly animal.
09:15 Therefore, it is officially accepted that porcupines cannot be tamed and domesticated.
09:20 But this turns out to be outdated information.
09:23 Some people keep porcupines as pets.
09:27 From childhood, porcupines are tamed so well that they follow their master like dogs.
09:32 It's just a pity that they cannot be stroked and hugged.
09:35 You can only hug porcupine cubs when their quills are still soft.
09:40 And people who care for porcupines all say that porcupines are very cunning, smart, gluttonous and terribly greedy.
09:49 Porcupines are very cunning, smart and terribly greedy.
09:56 But despite the many disadvantages, it is beneficial to be friends with a porcupine.
10:02 For example, if you want to go swimming in the river in the summer, but you don't have friends.
10:07 Then you can easily take a porcupine with you.
10:10 Porcupines are excellent swimmers.
10:12 Their needles are hollow inside, and the air they contain helps keep them afloat.
10:17 So the needles act as floats.
10:19 By the way, you can also make a float for a fishing rod from a porcupine needle and catch fish.
10:26 The porcupine is a fairly clean animal.
10:29 Those species that live in holes always equip themselves with a cozy bed of grass and from time to time renew the bed.
10:37 And some of the species even know how to climb trees.
10:42 In particular, the Philippine porcupine is capable of this.
10:46 In another way, it is also called Palawan porcupine.
10:50 Well, basically that's the whole story.
10:53 You now know the main essence of this animal.
10:56 Well, we do not say goodbye to you, but as always - see you soon!
11:01 [Outro]
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