Prehensile Tail Porcupine

Prehensile Tail Porcupines are found in Venezuela, Guiana, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Trinidad, and some extreme northern sections of Argentina.

With sharp spines, a big, round nose, and a tail they can hang from, prehensile-tailed porcupines are nocturnal vegetarian rodents. They have short, thick spines, and their body color runs from yellowish to orange-rust to brown to almost black. They weigh 4 to 11 pounds (2 to 5 kg). Their bodies are 300 to 600 millimeters long, and their tails are almost as long as their bodies, adding another 330 to 485 millimeters. Like howler monkeys, these porcupines use their prehensile tails for grasping and hanging. These tails have no spines, and the upper side near the end has a callus pad.

They are active at night and found in small social groups at sleeping times. Otherwise they solitary or paired. This information was taken from http://nationalzoo.si.edu

At Cub Creek Science Camp we have a Prehensile Tail Porcupine named Talulah.  She is a good climber and loves bananas.  She lives in the Habitat area of the Animal Learning Center.  She is a little shy but has definitely has her own personality.  Campers will be able to adopt her for a week during the summer Science Camp.