'Talking' Porcupine Won't Share His Corn

A North American porcupine loves corn so much it squeals in protest when sometime tries to take it away from him.

The long-toothed critter, known as Teddy, gobbles a piece of corn on the cob handed to it by his handler at Zooniversity, a mobile teaching zoo based in Texas.

When the zoo handler attempts to take the corn away and asks for a bite, Teddy breaks out into a bizarre series of squeals, almost chatter like.

Video footage of the greedy porcupine and its obsession with corn was uploaded to the internet in May but has only gone viral recently. It has even aired on some major television networks in the United States.

YouTube users have touted Teddy as the "talking porcupine" suggesting he is saying actual words in response to his zoo keeper as he hoes into the corn.

Some have said it sounds like the porcupine has murmured words like "that's mine" or "I like that" while others have suggested that the furry critter might be speaking in languages other than English.

One YouTube user suggested Teddy says "lekker" which is German for tasty, while another has suggested he says "rega" - a Hebrew word for "wait a minute".

Despite the language in which Teddy is trying to communicate, the video has gained soaring popularity among viewers with most agreeing that it is an example of animals borrowing the human language to communicate with us, and have labelled it as "clear intelligence".

To watch the video, click on the clip below.