Quilled!

In a study of porcupine quill injuries, veterinarians report that breeds overrepresented for quill injuries were the Rottweilers, Huskies, and German Shepherd mixes. Not Shih Tzus. Well, my Shih Tzus did not get the memo. Saturday night, in the middle of a dinner party, they decided a jaunt into the woods would be more fun than waiting for food to drop on the floor in the kitchen. They were not coming when called, so I cheated and pulled out the clicker. Douce showed up first with a face full of quills. Stella had to be coaxed; she came tip toeing out of the woods, still wearing her dinner party bow, with a few really long quills sticking out of her lip. WHAT?? Bows and quills??

Fifteen minutes later, Stella had a bloody lip but all five of her quills were removed. (There they are, in the picture). She recovered nicely, and was ready to keep partying. Douce was less fortunate. Another forty minutes later, he was exhausted and panicked after Bob, one of our brave dinner guests, removed 25 quills with a pair of pliers--and we hadn't gotten to his chin yet. We all surrendered and took Douce and Stella to the emergency vet, forty five minutes away, so Douce could be sedated for the rest of the process. FIVE HOURS after we arrived at the vet clinic, they finally removed another 10 quills from around and inside his mouth.

Douce, who no doubt started the hunt, definitely got the worst of it--Stella probably followed him into the woods without a clue. She must have made some contact with the porcupine though, as they do not "throw" their quills--the quills release when the dog skewers itself on them while attacking the slow moving rodent.

Douce is raring to get back in the woods, and Stella will be right behind him again. We will be working on fence plans too. And, I will be checking the dogs vigilantly for the next month to make sure I catch any quills that might be migrating through their bodies. Stella, I think, is safe, but Douce had quite the mouthful.

So spring has arrived in Maine! Next year I will know that when my yellow crocuses come up, the porcupines are on the move.