Karen Sagraves, age 8, of Lewisville, 'To. Carolina, for her question:

Can a porcupine shoot his quills?

Some people say that a porcupine cannot shoot off his quills like flying spears. Other people are quite sure that he can. On one side, the experts are sure that Mr. Prickles cannot aim a bunch of spikes at an enemy and shoot them just where he wants them to go. On the other side of the argument, sometimes an animal does get stabbed with a porcupine quill that has come off its original owner.

The mystery can be explained when we know that a porcupine's quills are not stuck to his skin with strong glue. As a matter of fact, they are not very firmly fixed at all. Some just fall out and new ones grow in. Some are lost when he rubs against a tree. And, when trouble arrives, he shakes his tail and tries to hash it in his enemy's face. No doubt the shaking accidentally loosens some ions; quills and they come off his tail. But a porcupine does not shoot his quills through the air on purpose.