Do porcupine quills grow back?

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A porcupine with long quills drinks from the edge of a small waterhole on dry, sandy ground in Namibia.

Extreme close-up of a Porcupine quill showing tiny backward-oriented scales along its surface.

Do porcupine quills grow back?: Media

Images

A porcupine with long quills drinks from the edge of a small waterhole on dry, sandy ground in Namibia.

An Old World porcupine (genus Hystrix) with its defensive pelage

The quills of Hystrix species have black bands on a light-colored background.

© Andries Alberts/Dreamstime.com

Extreme close-up of a Porcupine quill showing tiny backward-oriented scales along its surface.

Closeup of a porcupine quill showing barbs

These backward-pointing barbs make it difficult to pull out the quill once it penetrates...

© Custom Life Science Images/Alamy