Is that a porcupine?

Q. I always thought porcupines and hedgehogs were the same, or at least related.  They seem so much alike!  (Or do they?).Why isn't a hedgehog a porcupine?  Why? WHY? A. If you are like 98% of the population, you probably are a victim of many of the misconceptions about porcupines.   For exmple:  True or False: Porcupines, unlike hedgehogs, can shoot out quills at an unsuspecting victim.  If you answered True, you may need to work on your spiny-mammal IQ.  Neither hedgehogs or Porcupines can project or "throw" quills.  In both cases, an animal (or human) must initiate contact with the animal, and only porcupines quills come out upon penetrating the flesh of another animal.  Hedgehog quills are deeply anchored and do not come out.  Have a look at the pictures and captions below to learn about more differences.

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Porcupines and hedgehogs don't really even look the same.  Porcupines have stubby, rounded noses, and hedgehogs have poined snouts.  The reason for this is that porcupines, being herbivores (vegetarians) gnaw on bark while the Insectivorous hedgehog uses his pliable snout to sniff out insects and poke its mouth into holes.  Another obvious difference seen here is that porcupines have more hair on their heads, legs and backs.  Hedgehogs have nothing but quills on their heads and backs, and their face and legs are almost hairless.

The behaviour of the hedgehogs and porcupines also differs significantly.  Porcupines move at a relatively slow pace and climb trees.  Hedgehogs dart about on the ground, often hiding under stumps and hedges.

Even though porcupines and hedgehogs both have quills or "spines" that serve the same purpose, they are actually quite different.  Porcupine quills can be up to 5 inches in length, where hedgehog quills are seldom longer than a 1/2 inch.  Porcupines have long, flat tails where the largest, most dangerous quills are.  Hedgehogs only have small, bare vestigial tails.  When approached by a potential predator, a porcupine may swing its tail, dislodging its barbed quills into the intruder, causing great damage and sometimes fatalities.  Hedgehogs are more defensive than offensive.  They simply tighten their muscles and curl up into a ball, often jerking and huffing at the intruder.  They rarely do any serious damage.