Today a neighbor came by and incidentally mentioned that he had just seen a Brazilian porcupine (Coendou prehensilis, ouriço-caixeiro) on the way over. After years living in the Pantanal, seeing several dozens of jaguars, pumas and other rare animals we still haven't seen any porcupines. The closest we got was finding their spines in the dense forest. Of course we rushed out to see the rarity and there it was, peacefully sleeping on fence wires.
Porcupines are arboreal and nocturnal rodents. They're covered with short, thick spines which are whitish or yellowish in color, mixed with the darker hair and protect them very effectively from predators such as ocelots.
Note the prehensile tale, it's reflective feet and the long clawed toes.
