Teddy the Porcupine Doesn't Like Sharing

[rabid1st]

My thanks to thisficklemob and keswindhover for alerting me to this lovely video of a porcupine named, Teddy. Here someone has switched on the closed captioning so that we can make out what Teddy is saying about his corn on the cob. I must say at the point the closed caption has him say, "Take that"...near the end, I hear him say, "Get back," again...so I suppose it is all a matter of interpretation.

"I like your hat?" Maybe!

Comments

[maniacalshen.livejournal.com]

That's flipping adorable.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

He is so very cute. Did you follow the link to the one with him and a pumpkin? You can make up your own word for that one. But he does seem to say, "What's that?" "Get back!" "Hey!" and "It's good!" All of those phrases would be said to him, I think, by this keeper, so perhaps he is trying to communicate. I'm not sure about porcupine vocalization in the wild.

[maniacalshen.livejournal.com]

Haha, my sleepy lovebird keeps making vaguely confused noises at the porcupine. "Wtf kind of squeaking IS that?"

Tell you what, though, I would not put my hands as close to a porcupine as that handler does!

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Tweetie liked the porcupine squeaking, too. He kept making similar vague mutterings at it.

And apparently porcupines are pretty darned cuddly. There is another vid with someone petting the heck out of a very frisky porcupine. Of course, THAT person is wearing gloves and other protective gear.

[diebirchen.livejournal.com]

Too cute!

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

I know. He's so squeaky.

[auntiesuze.livejournal.com]

I freakin LOVE that video. I just saw another one of Teddy nomming on some pumpkin. It really does sound like he's talking! (GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY CORN, YO)

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

I know. I looked for other porcupines to see if they always make those vocalizations. They do. But the wild porcupines don't speak in response to humans and the noises don't sound as much like words. It is interesting that most of the words or phrases are also things that his human seems to ask him or say when he's eating. She tells us he loves corn. She asks, "Is that good?" "Do you like it?"

And the "Hey!" and "Get back" and "Give it" and "Mine" all sound like warnings she might use when HE does something he shouldn't. I wouldn't be that surprising if he was basically attempting to mimic the vocalizations she's has used to him repeatedly. The main reason I don't dismiss this idea and think that I'm projecting, is that the caption says pretty much what I heard him say before I saw the captioned vid. And, also, as you say, he does pretty much the same thing with the pumpkin.

[auntiesuze.livejournal.com]

I agree - I think that porcupines probably *are* somewhat vocal (when they feel safe, which I can't imagine wild porcupines really do), but it sounds like Teddy is mimicking things that have been said to him. Heh. It reminds me of when Millie was a baby. She wasn't talking yet (babbling, but not words) and one day Charlie did something that irritated her and she started yelling at him. It sounded like words, but was really just nonsense. She got her point across, though! LOL I think it's all in the tone, which Teddy *definitely* has down. We *know* that he doesn't want us messing with his treat! XDDD

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Here is a porcupine that might be socialized, but is not talking to the humans at least. And all I hear is vague buzzing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4lsuAawJz4

He appears to mutter something to himself, of course. I found a couple of ones that were supposedly wild and they were silent as they ate.

[genesisdesire.livejournal.com]

Abuububuubuuu. So cute. I never imagined porcupines as cute. I don't think you're projecting at all. It makes absolutele sense for animals to mimic human noises. It's why huskies can be trained to talk, as they're naturally vocal, highly intelligent, and like games. Mimicing humans is an awesome game. I've seen cats that can say 'hello', too.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

You are absolutely right about the vocalizations to mimic. My cats were always good at that, simply because we used cat friendly words to describe regular events. Like "Chow" for food.

I never imagined porcupines might liked being petted, though. Here is a new one, relating to people. And you will note that he's not vocalizing to the humans, but is using other methods (such as happy dancing) to communicate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=U5I5H7EeC8k&NR=1

Later, this same porcupine eats corn and does have a few things to say, but his handler doesn't use words to him, and so he uses far fewer as he eats. He does appear to say "This is good" though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsRQpD1dXPM