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Posted: 21st September 2023

Escaped porcupine evades Suffolk police
Sudbury and Haverhill Police are asking anyone who sees the latest porcupine runaway to contact a local vet or the RSPCA.
The quilled rodent is on the run in Clare, Suffolk.

Suffolk police have launched an appeal on Facebook after they spotted a porcupine on the loose.

The creature was seen by police officers who were driving through the market town of Clare at 1.30am on 20 September.

The officers stopped on the B1063 in attempt to catch the fugitive, however it disappeared into a nearby garden.

Porcupines are more commonly found in America, Africa, Asia and parts of Europe.

The rodents’ Latin name, Erethizon dorsatum, literally means ‘quill pig’, a reference to the 30,000 needle-like quills that grow on their backs, sides and tails.

Though they cannot shoot them at predators, their sharp quills leap to attention as a deterrent and are often found stuck in animals that have had a porcupine encounter.

The escapee may be approximately 25-36 inches in height, and weigh between 12- 35lbs.

This isn’t the first time Suffolk has had a porcupine problem, after a local newspaper reported three of the rodents roving between Bury St Edmunds and Clare in September 2021.

Firefighters in nearby Cambridgeshire have also been surprised to see a porcupine on the loose in the village of Harston after they had answered a call-out in August 2021.

Sudbury and Haverhill Police are asking anyone who sees the latest porcupine runaway to contact a local vet or the RSPCA.

Image © Shutterstock



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