Did you know a baby porcupine is called a porcupette? These cute critters have soft hair mixed with barbed quills that stick up when they feel threatened to deter predators. Porcupines sleep in trees and feed on the inner bark, twigs and leaves. They live to be 5-6 years old and have one or two young, which are born with soft quills that harden within an hour. Photo courtesy of California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 5/31/16.
Moose in the mist at Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo by by Aaron Rockefeller. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 5/18/16.
Katmai National Park & Preserve in Alaska provides some of the few remaining unaltered habitats for bears. With about 2,200 brown bears in the park, scientists are able to study bears in their natural habitat, visitors are able to enjoy unparalleled viewing opportunities (from safe distances) and the bears are able to continue their life cycle largely undisturbed. Photo by Mike Clime. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 7/25/16.