25 Lion encounters porcupine
This photo (poorly exposed, sorry about that) shows several sections of a lion’s scat. All are packed with porcupine quills. Obviously, the lion ate the porcupine, or parts thereof.
I didn’t witness the encounter of lion versus porcupine, but one doesn’t need to be a trained naturalist to figure out what probably happened.
To appreciate the encounter, one needs to know that African porcupines dwarf North American ones. African ones are roughly twice as big as their American counterparts and have longer and more intimidating quills. [We brought back some that are xx cm (xx in) long. These quills are impressive (defensive) weapons.]
When an African porcupine is attacked, it shakes its many quills, making distinct and surprisingly ominous rattling sound. The quills have black and white stripes – classical aposematic (‘warning’) colors.
[find photo of porcupine under The Tree.]
Back to the lion’s scat. From the scat alone, I can make several reasonable guesses as to the nature of the encounter and its consequences.
1) The lion must have been very hungry to attack a porcupine (although it might have merely scavenged the porcupine)
2) It must have been really hungry to swallow the quills as well as the meat.
3) Porcupine quills are resistant to the digestive juices of lions.
4) While swallowing the quills, and when using peristalsis to pass the quills down and out the digestive tract, that lion almost certainly regretted its decision.
5) I’m betting the lion never repeated this encounter.
Background. I photographed the lion scat in 1976. The scat itself was on display at a small museum at the Nossob Camp, Gemsbok National Park. When I returned to the Camp 2017 and asked about the scat, no one knew anything about it.
Take home lessons. 1) Never let yourself get really hungry. You might regret what you eat. 2) If you ever have hemorrhoids and are feeling sorry for yourself, consider that your suffering does not likely compare to what this lion experienced.