Thistle, the pet porcupine, has wandered off. Help her family find her.

To hear Marisa Grafford tell it, porcupines make excellent pets — affectionate enough to cuddle once you’ve smoothed down the quills.

Her family’s pet porcupine, Thistle, would dine on plums and other fruit snacks, tame enough to snatch a cob of corn from your hand.

“You could rub on her,” said Grafford, 22. “She gives kisses. You can push her quills down and sort of pick her up.”

Then on Monday, Thistle wandered away from her family’s adopted horse farm in northern Orange County — a spiny rodent on the loose.

Since then, Grafford and her family have scoured the rural roads around Hurdle Mills, about 10 miles north of Hillsborough, passing out fliers about their curious pet.

“You should have seen people’s faces,” she said. “A pet porcupine? It’s different.”

Thistle arrived two months ago via an exotic animal show in Raleigh, where she charmed Grafford’s stepmother, Christie.

As an African-crested porcupine, she grows quills only on her backside, making her more approachable. Grafford stresses that neither Thistle nor any porcupine can shoot quills at people or prey — a popular myth.

But as a domesticated porcupine, she has no experience in the wild. And as a nocturnal rodent, she might be hard to spot. So far, a search dog couldn’t turn up any trace, nor did a check of the nearby woods. Thistle is thought to be in the area of Union Grove Church and Wheelers Church roads.

In general, according to the Oregon Zoo, porcupines of Thistle’s variety grow to about 3 feet long, the largest rodents in Africa. They grow quills up to 13 inches long, which they raise in a “crest” along their backs. Mating, the zoo explains, is a “thorny challenge.”

But Grafford warns Thistle is leery of strangers, and she asks that anyone who spots her to contact them while keeping the porcupine in sight.

Meanwhile, they are pining for their “baby,” prickly on the outside, soft within.

Seen Thistle?

Call Marisa Grafford, 404-895-4675; Christie Grafford, 919-428-1830; or Jason Grafford, 919-428 3649.

This story was originally published August 8, 2018 at 4:00 PM.