Porcupine

[Gunplummer]

Not really hunting related, but yesterday I was walking the dog and almost had a bad experience. I really was not paying attention and walked her up to a porcupine within range of her leash. I have never had a dog tangle with a porky but would like to know what other people did that have had it happen. Treatment or whatever.

[buck460XVR]

I've ended more than a few bird hunting expeditions wrestling with a bird dog and wielding a pair of needle nosed pliers. I shoot every porky I see.

[Gunplummer]

Can you get all of the quill out with a pliers, or does some stay in and get infected?

[jdscholer]

I've ended more than a few bird hunting expeditions wrestling with a bird dog and wielding a pair of needle nosed pliers. I shoot every porky I see.

I'm with you buck. I've had some horrible porky experiences, and here's one of the horriblest.

My ex wife had a female great dane, (only about a hundred and forty pounder), that got mixed up with a porcupine one day when we were camping. I heard the commotion, and when I got to the scene the porky was pretty much bald; all the quills were in the dog, specifically the mouth. Her lips, gums, throat, snout, and face simply bristled with quills. The dog was pretty much strangling.

I got my hand on her collar and managed to drag that big bitch back to camp, and the work began. I've had folks tell me to cut the quills to remove the suction and they'll pull easier. That's a bunch of crap, don't bother. We had so many quills, varying from tiny to long, that I had to simply grab clumps of them and pull, sometimes ten at a time.

Trouble was the dog was so big and strong, she was kicking our butts, and we were just getting started. I had to do sompthin to make it easier, so I got my duct tape and hog tied all four legs together, and --viola!! no more struggle. Having her legs restrained was almost like giving her anesthetic. We were able to carefully get down and clean the quills up in a more leisurely fashion. It was unbelievable how many there were, but the dog had jaws like a crocodile, and had been able to fit the entire critter in her mouth.

Now here's the kicker. A few days later we spotted a few quills coming out the top or her snout. They had migrated completely through the roof of the mouth, sinus, and out the top. The quills have microscopic barbs, and travel one direction. Also there are a lot of iddy biddy quills on a porcupine, and it's hard to get them all.

That dog recovered, and to my knowledge didn't suffer any serious problems in the future. I've had my bird dogs get them from time to time, but never as bad as that great dane. jd

[buck460XVR]

I'm with you buck. I've had some horrible porky experiences

My previous Drahthaar had a peculiar dislike for porkies. Instead of learning to leave them alone, he just got more and more aggressive towards them every-time he got stuck. The last time he got stuck we were an hour from home, hunting late season grouse in deep snow. I thought he had a grouse buried in the snow, but it turned out to be a big porky. He got nailed once and went back for a second round. Worst case I've ever seen. Being by myself I knew I never make it back to town without him breaking all the quills off and driving them deep. He was a gentle dog and had always let me do things in and around his mouth. So I started pullin' quills with my Leatherman in the middle of the woods in knee deep snow. About halfway thru Ol' Lefty had had enough and started to clamp his mouth shut. After pulling the rest out that were outside his mouth, I went back to the inside, prying his mouth open with a stick. It soon became a wrestling match between every quill I pulled. I'd pull a quill and he would throw me off him and clamp his mouth down. I'd jump back on top of him and force the stick between his teeth and pry his mouth open for another one. One time he shook his mouth and broke a tooth on the Leatherman. About a hour and a half later, we were both soaking wet, covered with blood and completely exhausted. I finally felt like I had gotten them all, so we went back to the truck and went home. Wife asked when I walked in the door, "what the 'ell happened to you?". Called the vet and he said it sounded like I did all that could be done and if I missed one or two, not to worry that they would work their way out, unless they made it to the brain. For the next year, every once and a while another piece of a quill would work it's way out. He died of old age several years later. The funny thing was, he never once growled at me or bit me while I was removing the quills, but from the time we got home that night until the day he died several years later, he would growl and bare his teeth at me every-time he saw me with a pair of pliers(or scissors or any thing else that resembled a pliers) in my hand, and would snap at my hand if I got it too close to his mouth. My wife and kids could put pliers in his mouth and/or stick their hands/fingers in his mouth without him getting ornery....but not me. I kinda understood and we had a gentleman's agreement about it. I never stuck a pliers in his mouth again and he never went after porkies after that.

[Art Eatman]

I was surprised to learn of porcupines in the SW Texas desert. The dog of a friend of mine in Terlingua got into it three different times. I've seen a couple of dead porcupines along US 90 west of Sanderson.

[Sharkbite]

My Boxers LOVES them porkys. Ive had to take the female in 2x and pay a vet to get the quills out of her mouth and throat.

The male just got a snout full THRU THE FENCE about 3 weeks ago. I was out with a surpressed Ruger the next cpl days...no luck. If i see one, its DRT

[Gunplummer]

Porcupine range is kinds weird around me. You can hunt a mountain your whole life and not see a sign of one. Move over a mountain and you see them all the time. I moved over a mountain and now I have to worry about what to do with the dog if she gets in trouble. Thanks for the input.

[jdscholer]

I have seen, (and killed) porcupines as they traveled across sage brush flats where there weren't any trees for miles. jd

[T. O'Heir]

Stupid dogs bite down and can get quills stuck in their throats. Require$ a vet to take 'em out or the quill can work its way farther into Fido and kill him. Best to keep Fido away from Porky.

[kraigwy]

I use to have hounds and did a lot of coon hunting.

Coon dogs attract porcupines like magnets. The easiest method is clip the end of the quill, then pull it out. Without clipping the end, it holds like a suction cup.

The first time I took the dog to the vet. That would get expensive so you just have to clip and pull one at a time.

Some dogs learn some don't. I had one female Black and Tan that hated porcupines, sucker would stick with them until the killed them, leaving me with an all night project getting the quills out.

[V-fib]

In the three of my dogs that I had all got into the porky's. Two I was able to get the quills out by myself. One however had them down her throat and we had to take her to the vet.

buck460XVR sez:

I've ended more than a few bird hunting expeditions wrestling with a bird dog and wielding a pair of needle nosed pliers. I shoot every porky I see.

Do you at least eat them? When I worked in a local ER I had a teen that came in for a laceration skinning a porky that he had shot. Him and his friends said it was the best tasting meat they ever had and were going out to try and get another. I've also seen it harvested on an African and Alaskan hunting show and again they said it was delicious. I've never eaten it however.

[Tinbucket]

Somewhere I have seen or gotten the idea that someone makes kevlar head coverings for hunting dogs. They even make blankets or jackets and booots designed more for desert cactus and such things and snow.

[Gunplummer]

Can't picture that on my dog. I had one of those medical "Lampshades" on her head once and she went nuts.

[10-96]

This:

The easiest method is clip the end of the quill, then pull it out.

Quills are hollow. And when one end is squoze, air gets pushed to the other end and swells up the quill and making the barbs pooch out further. I've never seen one that needed more than 3/8" or 1/2" clipped off. Once it's clipped, clamp down on it with needle nose, leatherman, whatever, as close to the animal's hide as possible and yank quickly.