Daniele Bassi, the mayor of Massa Lombarda, one of the towns worst hit by the flooding, said: “The engineers I have talked to said the reason the river broke its bank was because of the porcupines’ dens. They are wider and deeper than those which are dug by other animals such as coypus and foxes.

“Often one thinks of coypus as being the problem, but porcupines also make their dens in the banks of rivers and canals,” he told the newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Local farmers appear to share the mayor’s low opinion of the local wildlife. 

“The activities of porcupines and coypus, as we have said many times in the past, are a significant cause of the weakening and breaching of river banks,” said Legacoop, an agricultural association in Emilia-Romagna.

Porcupines are a protected species in Italy which means culling them is not an option.

In any case, critics say they were a minor factor in the flooding, instead pinning the blame on climate change, lack of maintenance of levees and urban development.

While weather conditions were improving on Thursday, parts of the region were still under water.

“Never in the history of Emilia-Romagna has so much water fallen in 36 hours,” said Stefano Bonaccini, the governor of the region.