Many of the local forests in Tuscany are home to crested porcupines. These animals are thought to be introduced to Italy by the Romans who brought them over from Africa as a food source.

As with the Wild Boar, Porcupines mainly operate at night. During the day they live in the holes they burrow. However they have been known to occasionally venture outdoors and if you do see one it’s best keeping your distance as they can easily become disturbed and prepare themselves for attack by stamping their feet, rattling their tails, raising their spines and making loud grunting noises.

Although they are similar to hedgehogs, porcupines are actually rodents whose poor eyesight makes them dependent upon their senses of hearing and smell in order to find their supply of roots, bulbs, fallen fruits and cultivated crops, which they chew with their extremely sharp teeth that they hone by gnawing on bones.