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Porcupine's Defense
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  The
tail is covered with many quills ready for jabbing into any one who gets
too nosey into the porcupines business.
Most quills have an antibiotic on them which keeps the other animal from dying from infection. However, some animals have had the misfortune of the quill traveling into the body and into the brain. It can cause an abscess. |
  Though
they are not very big, they can cause a lot of damage. They eat bark when
food supplies diminish. 
This can cause the death of the tree. |
 They
may even chew on wooden decks or window sills. Porcupines love salt. They will chew on any ax handle that
has the salty sweat on it from the hands of the man who chopped wood all
day. They love to chew on old shoes, furniture and any tools that have
been exposed to human sweat. |
 The
quill has a barb on it that keeps it from falling out. Once lodged,
the quill swells.
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 It
is not easy to remove quills if you do not clip them first. |
 If
a quill stabs an animals eye, it can make the animal blind. |
| Porcupines are in the rodent family.
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 American
porcupines have shorter barbed spines (quills).
In this group of American porcupines are four smaller groups. 1. North American 2. Tree Porcupine of Central and South America 3. Upper Amazon porcupine 4. Thin-Spined porcupine of South America |
  It
is very difficult to get a picture of the face of a porcupine. He keeps
his defense towards you at all times.
The slow porcupine must be ready to defend himself at all times. |
 Porcupines
often climb a tree to escape dog or other attacking predators. This one
was desperate for Sparky wanted revenge for quills in her nose so many
times. She was lunging for the porcupine's face. |
 The
porcupine has little whiskers along its nose like the cat. Its claws are
real good for digging and for climbing. |
  This
porcupine entered my greenhouse and surprised me while I was picking my
raspberries. All I could see was a dark animal. Then I saw a tail full of
quills headed for my hand. I jumped back fast. With a little spray from
the hose, we encouraged him up into the fig tree for pictures. If we
touched him on the back with part of the fig tree, he turned around so we
could get a picture of his face. |
  Indian
use of quills for art.
There are people who love to keep up an old Indian art using porcupine quills and guard hairs. There are web sites where one can buy an old skin and pull their own quills for this art. They say it is hard to do. I have never tried it. I think it is pretty how they put it on bark. |
| Video clip
Press the arrow to view this clip. We discovered that the porcupine shakes his coat like the dog does when it is full of water. We have a video clip of this. |
  God
gave the porcupine an ability to defend himself. He is so slow, it is a
good way for him to survive. Our Creator knows how to defend and care for
all of His creatures including us. |
 God
has also given a special kind of defense for those who obey Him in the
last days. He gives courage and faith to face big challenges. Our defense
is the WORD. It is like a sword. God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and
God's host of angels have promised they will be ready to help in any
emergency. Just call for help you are going to need them.
"Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12 SONG |
 Because
God's people live like Jesus, Satan, his angels and people on his team
will hate them. Just your smile and singing can bring hate from them.
Satan will urge his helpers to throw God's people in prison. Remember if you have to go to prison, God will not forget you. Angels may come to sing with you. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8 |
 God's
people will be taken to court and called criminals. Lies will be told
about them. We must not worry what we shall say. God will help us say the
right things. It will cause those listening to think about God. Many will
decide they want to be a follower of Jesus too. They are watching how you
act. How happy you will be to find you have helped others make it to
heaven. Mathew 10:17-19
The Bible says to rejoice and be glad for it is an honor to go through this. It does not feel like an honor. You do not feel like rejoicing either. God will help you have courage. Mathew 5:12 |
| In Mathew 5:13 the Bible says you are the salt
of the earth. Salt is good for many things. In food it's important. Food
does not taste as good without salt. Christians make life more pleasant
for others.
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| You can be a salty Christian. While you are doing missionary work, hide in Jesus. When the work is hard, and you feel discouraged, take your Bible, bow on your knees and say, " Lord, You promised to help me." The ice of selfishness is melted while you are on your knees. You will share the joy of heaven in saving the lost. |
 Don't
bother storing food for this trouble ahead. If you do, everyone will come
to your house to eat. If you don't want to share, they will beat you up
for it.
The Bible says in Isaiah 33:16 that bread and water will be given to us. |
 Elijah
was fed by ravens. |
 Water
will be given out of the rocks for you. |
 God
will help you find a hiding place. Yet some will be in prison. Wherever we
are, we need to rejoice and sing. |
 When
God the Holy Spirit withdraws, crime will increase at a worse rate than it
is now. When people have made up their minds whose team to be on, there
will be chaos in this world. After a point, God removes His restraining
orders on all the wicked evil people. Crime will be terrible. Disasters
are also predicted. There will be big tidal waves and hurricanes. |
| There
will be terrible earthquakes. Water supply becomes contaminated and fires
break out when there are big earthquakes. Bridges break and cars
cannot go anywhere. Some cars get smashed by falling bridges and building.
After the San Francisco earthquake a bunch of sand was shoved up through weak places in the soil. If a home was built over such a place it crumbled. The loose sandy layers become like quicksand. Parts of the ground are heaving, and parts are pulling the building down. This causes the buildings to collapse. A sand boil is a dangerous place to walk. You could be taken down into the quicksand. |
 Fires
will break out in many places. |
 Do
God's people need to be afraid? Remember your defense, the Bible is your
sword. The porcupine always remembers his.  They
will only need faith and obedience. God will provide all that they need.
He is a refuge. He is our defense. (Psalm 91, and Psalms 46) |
| Quiz
1. What is the Christians Defense? 2. What is the porcupine's defense? 3. What do porcupines eat? 4. What kinds of disasters will be seen before Jesus comes? 5. Why is the trouble allowed to go on? What is God trying to show the world and the watching universe? (2 Thessalonians 2:3) 6.What does God promise to those who obey and trust Him during the days of trouble? (Isaiah 33:16) 7. Do you need to store up food ahead for this trouble and put in your own power generators? 8. Will God help you say the right things when taken to court over your beliefs? (Mathew 10:17-19) |
The
porcupine does not ever get worried. If danger threatens him, he does not
run to hide. He is confident because he has a defense system that is
amazing. They can lodge a sharp quill into the flesh of another animal by
the simple slapping of its tail.
To
get the quills out of our dog's nose, we clip the end and wait a little
and the quill comes out easy using tweezers. The dog is in so much pain that is
moves all over the place. It's so hard to remove quills especially if they
are almost buried in the skin.
There
are different kinds of porcupines in the world. They all have the quill
defense. There are two sub families of porcupines. The largest porcupine
is the African crested porcupine illustrated here. It gets as large as 32
inches (80 cm.)
Also
Many times
when people are not dressed for snow they fall easy. 
Another thing
that can happen is a sand boil.