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Zoo Names Its Baby Porcupine Quilliam And We Can't Cope

Zoo Names Its Baby Porcupine Quilliam And We Can't Cope

Quilly McQuillface was a popular contender, naturally.

Ciara Sheppard

Ciara Sheppard

A baby porcupine has finally been named Quilliam after a nationwide poll to find his moniker - and we're honestly obsessed.

Born in November, the porcupette (baby porcupines are called porcupettes, fyi- who knew!) was without a name until his zoo turned to the public for guidance.

Meet Quilliam (
Smithsonian National Zoo)

Smithsonian's National Zoo made clear from the start that Quilly McQuillface was not an option (best to point that out early, eh?), but offered a few alternative options for the prickly rodent, whose parents are named Quillber and Beatrix.

In the end, Quilliam won 43.4 per cent of the votes, while Prickles finished in second place with 26.6 per cent. Quillson came in third with 18 per cent of votes and Gonzo came in last with 12.


"Love the name Quilliam....I was just to cast my vote for Quilly!!!....it would still be a great nickname :)," offered one person.

"What about quill.i.am?," one genius added.

"Quilly McQuillface is a perfectly respectable name," stated a third.

"Awesome name!," said another.

Here's Quilliam's mum and dad, Quillber (left) and Beatrix (right) (
Smithsonian National Zoo)

The zoo explained keepers will use Quilliam's name for training "for things like ultrasounds and learning to touch targets". Generally, they like to name animals within two months after they're born.

In a bonus bit of trivia, the zoo let us know that porcupine noses feel like marshmallows. Omg.

In other porcupine-relate news (AKA the only news that matters), a baby porcupine abandoned at birth has become best chums with her pet sausage dog.

Diablo and Fig became best friends (
SWNS)

Porcupette Diablo was rejected from his mother, but when Estelle - a zookeeper at Cotswold Wildlife park in Oxfordshire - took him home, he instantly forged a bond with her pet Dachshund, Fig.

The two however, quickly became best of friends, which is now proving a little disconcerting given Diablo's lethal, spiny coat. But, despite the obvious hazards, the two pals spend their whole time playing together.

"When Diablo gets excited he will do a buckaroo-style run, where he thrashes his head around and jumps up in the air," says Estelle.

"Under close supervision, they will run around the garden together and Fig has been very gentle and patient with Diablo."

We love this story, and porcupines are are officially one of our faves.

*Books trip to zoo to touch a porcupine's nose*

Featured Image Credit: Smithsonian National Zoo

Topics: Life News, Zoo, Life