The Porcupine and the Dog

Every year some dog somewhere is regretting his life decisions. Spring and summer are the top seasons for dog vs porcupine fights. Porcupines are mostly nocturnal and tend to stick to heavily wooded areas. There is also a very common misperception about porcupines and their quills. They, in fact, do not throw their quills. As long as you, or the offending animal, do not try to touch the porcupine, his quills can’t hurt you.

Living in New Mexico, I saw dogs with porcupine quills in their face often. It’s not as common in Connecticut, but we still saw atleast one case yearly. Several years ago in New Mexico a blue mutt came in, seemingly very proud of himself, and looking like Pinhead. He had quills stuck in his front legs, paws, all over his face and head, and inside his nose and mouth. It was one of the worst cases of porcupine quills I’d seen. How did this happen? He tried to play with a porcupine. As a defense, a porcupine will swing his tail like a club and hit you with it. This poor dog must have gotten hit multiple times after he tried to bite down on the porcupine. He was a very good boy though and we were able to sedate him and remove all of the quills. After over an hour sedated, he was finally sent home with antibiotics and pain medications. I’m uncertain if he actually learned his lesson.

When we first moved to Connecticut, there was one dog that never learned his lesson. He was a 90 pound Weimaraner that had to be sedated three times in one week… for porcupine quill removal.

Porcupine Quills

Porcupine quills are not thrown. This rumor has been spread for centuries and clients still bring their dogs in claiming a porcupine “threw” its quills at their dog. The truth is, their dog tried to bite the porcupine and came back with a mouth full of quills. Porcupines are slow moving, solitary, fairly docile creatures. All they ask of the world is that no one touch them. I get it. Sometimes I also would like to live in a bubble of needles pointing outward.

The porcupine quills are stiff and hollow, ending in sharp backward facing microscopic barbs. These barbs are why it is so easy to puncture skin and so hard to remove.

We did once have an owner tell us not to sedate their dog to remove the quills. This is a terrible idea for multiple reasons.

1. Pulling quills out of flesh is painful.
2. Quills are hollow, so they break easily. If the dog moves during a quill extraction, they will likely break the quill, leaving the sharp barbs inside the skin, leading to infection.
3. You try pulling quills out from inside a dog’s mouth while they are awake… we aren’t magicians.

My advice: For those of you living in a forested area, if you let your dog off leash, whether it’s in your back yard or out on a walk, keep your eyes open. Keep your yard well lit with motion sensor lighting and always scan your path before letting your dog run. We’ve only spotted one porcupine out on a walk and that was in Connecticut. However, twice now (Connecticut and Pennsylvania) I’ve tried to let the dogs out for a potty break and had to stop after spotting a bear running through our yard. It’s always best to check before opening that door.