Do porcupines shoot with their quills? Detailed answer

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Do porcupines shoot with their quills? Detailed answer

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Do porcupines shoot with their quills?

Porcupines have always been considered irritable, stubborn animals. Even Shakespeare described them as such. In Hamlet there is this line: "Like quills on a frenzied porcupine."

In reality, the porcupine is a completely harmless creature that just wants to be left alone. In winter, it curls up in some kind of hole or recess and sleeps most of the time. In summer, he leisurely wanders through the thickets, looking for bark, branches, roots and leaves from trees and bushes.

Porcupines are found in Europe, Africa, India and South America, as well as in the United States and Canada. American varieties of porcupines reach 1 meter in length and weigh 713 kilograms. Its needles are about 18 centimeters long. They are yellowish white with black tips. The quills grow among the fur of porcupines and consist of a rod with a hard end.

When a porcupine is born, its quills are soft and silky. It only takes a few weeks for them to harden. If a porcupine is attacked, it bristles its quills and curls up into a prickly ball. These spines are rather loosely attached to the body of the porcupine. Because it often swings its tail in front of the snout of the pursuer, the needles come off quite easily.

That is why people believe that the porcupine "shoots" with its quills. He doesn't. They just fly off. Porcupines usually sleep during the day, and at night they come out in search of food. They use their long, sharp claws to climb trees, and then perch on branches and gnaw on bark and branches. The porcupine stuffs bark, twigs, and leaves into its mouth at the same time. Since porcupines are very fond of bark, they cause great harm to the forest.

It is known that only one porcupine during the winter can destroy 100 trees! Porcupines are also very fond of salt. They impudently enter human habitats and gnaw on any objects touched by salt or even sweaty human hands!

Author: Likum A.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

What is a Nobel Prize?

Every year, when the Nobel Prizes are awarded, there is a lot of noise around the names of the laureates. They are interviewed, articles are written about them. This is because the Nobel Prize is regarded by most people as the highest award given for merit in a particular field, such as chemistry, physics, medicine, or literature. There is also the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded for efforts to promote peace. It is noteworthy that this award was founded by a man who has done a lot for the science of destruction!

Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm, years of his life: 1833-1896. Among the discoveries he made and patented were dynamite, nitroglycerin (a stronger substance than dynamite) and a new kind of detonator for explosions. Maybe, having created so much destruction, Nobel felt the need to do something noble for the world. He was passionate about the idea of peace, he had a plan that he believed could prevent war.

By the way, in addition to being a brilliant scientist, Nobel wrote poetry. He thought that literature and science are the most important factors in human progress. After Nobel's death, he left a fund of $9. The money was intended to reward people who made outstanding contributions to chemistry, physics, medicine, literature, and the promotion of peace. The prize was first awarded on December 000, 000, the anniversary of Nobel's death. Since Nobel was a Swede, the prizes are awarded by the Swedish Nobel Foundation.

Here are the organizations selected to determine the winners in the field: physics and chemistry - the Swedish Academy of Medical Sciences - the Karolinska Institute of Sweden, literature - the Swedish Academy for the Promotion of Peace - a five-member committee elected by the Norwegian parliament. In 1969, a prize was established for success in the field of economics.

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Silver nanothreads keep you warm 09.01.2015

If we feel that we are cold, it means that the body is losing heat faster than our body can produce it. Therefore, at night we cover ourselves with a blanket, and in winter, in order not to freeze, we put on warm clothes. From the point of view of physics, a woolen sweater or a down jacket cannot warm - they only insulate the body from the external environment. As a result, the heat generated by the body heats the person himself, and not the environment.

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