Page:Babyhood of Wild Beasts.djvu/267

Rh Albinos are rare among porkies. I knew of one which was in central Maine a few seasons back. It was milk-white in colour, white quills and deep ruby-coloured eyes.

I recently read an authentic report that albino porcupines are both blind and deaf. This is not at all surprising as albinos are freaks of nature, and we could hardly expect them to be perfectly natural and normal.

The porcupine is probably the safest from starvation of any of our woodland friends. He can eat anything from green leaves and tender plants to the little twigs and bark of our evergreen trees. Summer or winter, his larder is full. The lynx, wolves, carabou and moose may suffer during the long frozen winter; but the little Porky has only to climb the nearest tree and get busy with the eternal bark supply.

His teeth in themselves are an institution, two chisels in the lower and two in the upper jaw. These are flanked on either side by the powerful molars. Like other rodents (gnawing animals), his teeth keep right on growing as long as he lives. Only his constant gnawing keeps the teeth