Cohabitation of Settlements among Crested Porcupine (<i>Hystrix cristata</i>), Red Fox (<i>Vulpes vulpes</i>) and European Badger (<i>Meles meles</i>)

Spatio-temporal inhabitation of settlements by Hystrix cristata L., 1758

“…This result suggests the absence of porcupinebadger competition. Occurrence of co-habitation between porcupine and badger is not due to a lack of settlement availability or to the absence of aggressive interactions that frequently occurred between the two species in the same study area 25 . Moreover, cohabitation with badger positively affected the length of the inhabitation periods in a settlement by a porcupine family.…”

“…In winter porcupines seems to choose south-oriented burrows, in summer those northwest oriented while in spring and autumn no preference was reported 18 . Based on the above hypothesis the use of different settlement throughout the year was suggested 18 .Settlements (i.e., cluster of ground entrance holes) inhabited by crested porcupine are usually also inhabited or explored, at different times (i.e., settlement sharing), by badger (Meles meles) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) 22,25 , even if cohabitation (i.e., simultaneously inhabitation of the same settlement) has been observed only between porcupines and badgers 25 . Cohabitation between porcupine and badger occurs throughout the year even in presence of porcupettes 25 .…”

“…Based on the above hypothesis the use of different settlement throughout the year was suggested 18 .Settlements (i.e., cluster of ground entrance holes) inhabited by crested porcupine are usually also inhabited or explored, at different times (i.e., settlement sharing), by badger (Meles meles) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) 22,25 , even if cohabitation (i.e., simultaneously inhabitation of the same settlement) has been observed only between porcupines and badgers 25 . Cohabitation between porcupine and badger occurs throughout the year even in presence of porcupettes 25 . The simultaneous inhabitation of the same settlements by porcupine and badger is not due to lack of settlements availability and often resulted in an increase of aggressive interaction between the two species 25 .…”

“…Cohabitation between porcupine and badger occurs throughout the year even in presence of porcupettes 25 . The simultaneous inhabitation of the same settlements by porcupine and badger is not due to lack of settlements availability and often resulted in an increase of aggressive interaction between the two species 25 . However, no data are available concerning how porcupine-badger cohabitation and porcupettes presence can affect porcupine settlement selection and inhabitation as well as whether cohabitation causes the abandonment of a settlement by a porcupine family.…”

Preliminary investigation on enzymatic activity in saliva of Hystrix cristata L., 1758

“…The crested porcupine ( Hystrix cristata ) is a hystricomorph rodent distributed in North and Central Africa and, among European countries, it is present only in Italy, where it lives as a naturalized species (Vecchio et al, 2018). It is a burrowing and mainly nocturnal mammal that shows occasional diurnal motor activity (Coppola et al, 2019, 2020). It is able to adapt to different habitats (i.e.…”