There’s nothing better than watching a baby animal explore the world. They’re so curious and brave, and when they stumble or do cute things, we all swoon. Located in Quebec, Canada, The Miller Zoo is a wildlife sanctuary and rehabilitation center and home to all sorts of different animals. They rescued a porcupine that was hit by a car this spring, and were surprised when she had a ‘perfectly healthy’ baby a few weeks later.
Now, the baby is a few months old and loves to explore his (or her!) surroundings. In the video, the baby first tries to climb all over Mom just like a toddler. Then the baby decides to climb a little tree branch before enjoying a banana treat. The whole thing is too cute!
@miller_zoo We thought we were saving one life. She had other plans. 🍼 Hit by a car this spring, she came into our care… and surprised us with a perfectly healthy baby few weeks later 🥹
The baby porcupine is absolutely adorable, and looked so excited about his snack! Viewers of Miller Zoo’s video all agreed that they’d like to hug the little one. @Ash yelled, “THAT’S THE CUTEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN!!!!”
@Willow pointed out, “ARE THEY NOT BORN WITH HURTIE HAIRS?! This changes everything!!!” Another commenter added, “I need to give him just one small squeeze. Utterly adorable!!!”
Related: New Tiny Baby Porcupine at Fort Worth Zoo Couldn’t Be More Adorable
More About Baby Porcupines
Here’s a fun fact about baby porcupines: they are called porcupettes…how cute is that! At birth, porcupettes typically weigh around 1 to 2 pounds and measure about 12 inches long. They are born with soft, bendable quills that start to harden in just a few days.
Speaking of quills, porcupines can have up to 30 thousand of them! Many people think that porcupines can launch their quills like arrows, but they cannot. If they feel threatened or attacked, the quills rise and if a predator or threat gets close enough to them, each quill has a barb like a fishhook on its end that are very hard to remove. Some porcupine quills will rattle if shaken, providing predators with a warning before getting poked.
Porcupettes grow rapidly and reach adult size within a year. Babies are very independent and are sometimes ready to leave mom after just a few months. Within days after birth, they can walk and climb trees and start foraging for food with their mothers shortly after that.
I hope Miller Zoo continues to share videos of the growing baby. It seems we’re all very smitten with the cute little porcupette!