By Ben Rodgers
Editor
SUAMICO – This month’s Animal of the Month is a prickly, pampered princess of a porcupine.
Named after a character from the classic film “The Princess Bride,” Buttercup is content with her role at the NEW Zoo as an education animal.
“She is very social with the keepers and the educators,” said Megan Walsh, zookeeper. “She was actually born in the Memphis Zoo in 2003 and was raised with the knowledge she’d be an education animal.”
Throughout the year, people will get a chance to see the Brazilian porcupine Buttercup up close during educational programs.
Walsh said she is a crowd-pleaser, but because of her quills, she’s a no-touch animal for the public.
However, zookeepers discovered she loves a good butt rub.
“She has no need for her quills here, but she will occasionally put up her quills when I surprise or startle her,” Walsh said. “She also doesn’t like our vet, but we are working with her to teach her our vet isn’t scary.”
She has been working with Buttercup for the past 5 1/2 years and only once got stuck with a quill when the porcupine was climbing on her.
Walsh said the quills are a hardened hair with a microscopic barb at the end to stay stuck in. The quills also shed like pet hair and regrow.
Walsh said it’s a myth that porcupines can shoot their quills.
“Buttercup occasionally likes to perpetrate that myth because sometimes she likes to shake and a quill will come off,” she said. “So it looks like she’s shooting them, but it is no different than a dog or cat losing hair.”
Unlike her North American porcupine cousins in Wisconsin, Buttercup has a prehensile tail, which is great for helping her climb in trees in the wild, or in her exhibit at the NEW Zoo.
Walsh said the tail works like a fifth limb when climbing, but can’t support weight like a monkey tail.
In the wild, Brazilian porcupines use their tree-climbing ability to eat leaves and tree bark in the rainforest.
At the NEW Zoo, Buttercup has a diet of monkey and rodent biscuits, moose chow, and on special occasions, peanut butter.
As a rodent, her front incisors will never stop growing, so Buttercup has plenty of branches to chew on as well.
Buttercup has been at the zoo since 2004 and is well cared for as she is nearing the end of her life expectancy, which is 17 years in captivity.
“We provide her with enrichment for her to interact with, that keeps her mentally healthy,” Walsh said. “She’s also trained to go into her travel tote for education programs, she’s also weighed monthly.”
While secretive in the wild, in captivity Buttercup is great at making friends with zookeepers and the public alike.
“She is a very pampered porcupine,” Walsh said. “She is such a joy to work with. She has a great personality, and she makes doing this job very rewarding.”
To keep up with Buttercup, and see when she will be available for educational programs, visit newzoo.org.