The porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) loves salt and given the chance will chew up saddles, riding tack, rifle butts, boots, tool handles - anything with a trace of sweat on it. This placid herbivore can adapt to a wide range of environments. When threatened it hides its nose under a rock or log (a blow on the nose can be fatal), raises and rattles its quills. It backs towards the molester, slaps its tail and drives its jagged, hollow spines deep into the attacker's flesh. These snap off and stay embedded. Minute barbs work the quills ever inwards, eventually killing victims as large as mountain lions and bears.
