Meet Stinkers, The Extremely Friendly Porcupine — You Can Even Pet Her, With Gloves Of Course

Meet Stinkers the Porcupine. Stinkers’ original name was “Snickers,” but her handlers changed her name for reasons you can probably guess. Even though this porcupine seems to act like a puppy, it definitely does not take baths like a puppy. But as you’ll see in this adorable video, Stinkers may be the friendliest porcupine ever.

Porcupines really don’t make great pets and shouldn’t, generally speaking, be kept as pets. Porcupines are wild animals. But Stinkers appeared, at least for a while, to be the the exception to the rule.

The rambunctious, attention-loving porcupine lived for years as kind of a mascot at Telluride Ski Resort in Colorado. All the human attention appears to have convinced Stinkers that she’s not a porcupine at all, but a puppy.

Stinkers even loves being petted — but you’d better wear gloves.

The lovable little porcupine moved in 2010 to Alaska, where she was given a new home at the Wildlife Conservation Center in Chugach National Forest, where she still received the occasional belly rub.