How can a male porcupine mate without impaling himself on the female's quills?
Question:
Answer:
In all honesty this is how it goes down. The male approaches the female of choice and gives her a golden shower...no joke. The male will stand on his hind legs and spray urine all over the female. If she likes what she sees, she lays her quills flat against her back and raises her tail. Then, well the rest is history. Interesting fact, female porcupines only come into heat for 12-15 hours out of the whole YEAR.
"Very carefully - or not at all. You don't see many porcupines around." Quote from 'The Thomas Crown Affair'
My guess is: they mate very carefully.
Very carefully!
Without getting too basic, the female folds her tail over her back. The underside doesn't have any spines on it. The male then approaches standing on his back legs (quite carefully), and there you go.
They have got skills!
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