Needles in a haystack, er, newfstack

[sbyer]

Friday AM pre-work walk.......Sam decides he would like to experience a 'backwoods" acupuncture and spa day!

Blurry photo but those ARE quills on his face and head........they are also hidden throughout his coat. We had 4 or 5 ecstatic rolls in a dead porcupine this AM before I reached him.
May I also say his essence was definitely pungent!
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4 1/2 hours later....Resting after his bath and a marathon of fingering through his wooly coat as I became [/FONT]adept with the needlenose pliers, [FONT=&quot]picking them out of his armpits, ears, neck, back, and everywhere else......[/FONT]Talk about finding needles in a haystack!
A few of the finer ones with a dime for comparison......Unfortunately there were many, many, more tiny black ones than the more obvious ones in the first photo ~sigh~

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Tonight we still found a couple more of the hidden little[/FONT] devils[FONT=&quot]. :uglyhammer:
The irony is that we narrowly escaped a full out encounter with this same porcupine last fall.....causing me a mild concussion and whiplash and no pain for Sam.....my neighbour shot it and it should have decomposed or been ravaged by coyotes over the winter, but not so.......however my 'intelligent dog' managed to let it have the last hurrah.......
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[RiverTheNewf]

Oh no! I'm sorry you had this adventure. Just a tip, though probably too late for you now, but porcupine spines are hollow, so if you cut off the ends, the barb deflates a bit and makes them easier to pull out. We had a pet porcupine, and we liked to impress our friends by holding her and getting our sweatshirts full of spines. I hope Sam is feeling ok and not too sore!

 

[sbyer]

I did snip some of the larger ones.....but the tiny ones were in danger of being too short......some were embedded 1/4 to 1/2 inch with very little sticking out. Sam didn't seem to mind the extractions at all......I later found one in my arm and it stung like hell when I pulled it out.........so I cooked him liver for supper after that because he was so good and laid back through the ordeal.

I'm just fear that that the drug, (rotten smell), addictive ectasy will lure him into the same situation again. :beatdeadhorse:

BTW, I have never known anyone with a pet porcupine before........but then weren't you the one who got married at the zoo?

 

[YorkvilleNewfie]

Ouch, poor Sam! He deserved the liver for sure, but you really ought to have treated yourself too...that was no small job you did there!

 

[Thule's Mom]

Oh! Poor baby! In the late 60's we moved to the interior of Labrador... the first thing my darling Pal did was go out and get himself a snout full of quills... .... my BIL used plyers to get them out.... poor doggie!! But it turned out ok... still makes me shiver to think about it!

 

[NewfLove]

And I thought our Great Pyr mix getting hosed by a skunk twice in a week was a tough one. I think you have us beat! By a mile!!

 

[Blacknewfs]

Oh Sam that sucks.

Zoe got a face full of quills last year, not fun.

 

[JackandKelly]

Oh poor Sam Such a good momma cooking you liver after your ordeal

 

[Connie w Tuck]

Poor Sam. And right before work. Nice.

 

[sendchocolate]

That sounds awful. How were you able to get the quills out so well? I don't think that Poppy would at all cooperate. I would have to sit on her, I fear.

 

[dumainedogs]

Oh my word... what these pups can get into! I don't think we have porcupines here to speak of, now, I'm truly grateful!

 

[padkins]

Oh poor Sam! :shocker:

 

[grizzyof3]

Our Rudder had a run in with a porcupine a few years ago. After we pulled out 40 quills ourselves, we had to take him to the vet to get the rest out. They were in his tongue and in his gums, up his nose...and he never made a peep all night to let us know he had turned into a pincushion. Darn porcupines!

 

[The Doctor]

So glad Sam is OK !!!! :icon_bb:

On the other hand ...... WHO THE HECK HAS A PET porcupine ??? Holy Moses !!!!! :shocker:

 

[luvxl k 9]

eeeeeeeeoooooooo and ooooouuuuccchhh all at once!!! I'm thinking that carcass needs to put in a burn barrel somewhere so he can't get at it again!!!!

 

[KodysGrandma]

Poor baby, we do get ourselves into trouble don't we? Knew a Labrador in my childhood in the woods of Ontario who got into porcupines quite regularly. Coat a little easier than a Newf. Fortunately my collie only got 7 in her tongue one time and that was enough for her. Sam sure was good