Baby porcupines are called porcupettes. Fortunately for their mamas, porcupettes have soft quills at birth, but they harden within a few days.

Porcupine quills are hollow, like feathers, and are made from the same material.

The sharp quills of the North American porcupine have tips that are covered in backward-facing barbs that make them much tougher to remove.

It could hardly be more apt, but a congregation of these spiky creatures is called a prickle.

The average life expectancy of a wild porcupine is 5 to 6 years, while their captive counterparts have been known to live up to 30 years.