Meet Nigel The 'Coendou' – The Cutest Animal You've Never Seen (Pics & Video)

Cuteness comes in all shapes, sizes, and...textures? Yep! Even prickly critters can tip the charts on the sweetness scale, and Nigel is no exception. This cool dude is one of Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium's most unusual species, a coendou, which falls under the porcupine family. They're sometimes called prehensile-tailed porcupines because of their tail's ability to grasp objects, and if that's not cool, we don't know what is.

You might wonder what Nigel's favorite snack is. Well, he likes leaves, shoots, fruits, bark, roots, and buds. Coendou is herbivorous and often lives in America. Nigel doesn't make a lot of noise. Sometimes, he communicates in a child-like voice. Moreover, it's lucky that he never has to straighten up his sharp, tough hair toward any creatures.