JERUSALEM, July 12 (Reuters) - A new type of intruder has been needling authorities at Israel's top secret nuclear research centre -- one of the four-legged variety.

Israeli Parks Authority spokeswoman Osnat Eitan confirmed a newspaper report that park rangers had been sent to the facility at Dimona, believed by experts to be used to produce atomic weapons, to catch dozens of porcupines that have been chewing through saplings and garden hoses.

Using potatoes and chocolate milk as bait, the prickly animals were being trapped and moved elsewhere, Eitan said.

The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted the site's gardener, David Golan, as saying a porcupine population explosion posed a security threat.

Israel says its conducts nuclear research in Dimona in the Negev desert and refuses to comment on reports that the reactor has produced plutonium for atomic bombs.

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