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Life

09th Nov 2014

Video: Porcupine fights off 17 lions, is one bad-ass m**********r

This is a great moment from the animal kingdom.

Tony Cuddihy

This is a great moment from the animal kingdom.

A single porcupine sees off a pride of 17 lions at the Londolozi Private Game Reserve in South Africa.

How does he do it? All is explained below…

“The porcupine began to shake its tail… the sound of the quills makes a distracting noise. The porcupine began to run backwards into any lion that would come too close for comfort, a common defense mechanism for a threatened porcupine,” writes Lucien Beaumont, who caught the moment on camera.

“If the porcupine manages to get close enough to a predator, it does not shoot its quills as many people may think. Rather the quills have micro-barbs, which hook into the face or paws of a predator that may get too close.

“The quills simply pull out of the porcupines skin without causing damage to the prickly creature. The predator then has to deal with a painful quill.”