Encounter With A Porcupine

[1roadtoad]

Late yesterday afternoon, my mini donks had an encounter with a porcupine! Willow, ended up with 6 quills and Charlotte had 41, most of them above her hoof on the back of her left leg, embedded in her tendon. She actually had a couple in the bottom of her hoof from kicking the porcupine. Vet removed all that we found and no barbs were left behind. Has anyone else had this happen to an equine? If so, did they recover okay? Needless to say, the porcupine is now living 15 miles from my property .

 

[MaryFlora]

Poor Willow and Charlotte! That is so painful to see!

We haven’t had a horse tagged by a porcupine but we did have a dog. She was sore for a few days after the incident with swelling but recovered well.

 

[Cayuse]

Well this is a first for me! That looks painful. Ouch!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Several of my horses have encountered them. Usually in the nose, then the feet when the horse kicked the critter. We were able to remove the quills ourselves. Luckily the horses seems to know we were trying to help them. I gave a dose of banamine.
Pepper treed one a few days ago near our corral. Billy is not inquisitive, and Pepper is too wary so I am not worried too much. Usually we shoot them. They will also do a lot of damage to trees. We don't hunt them, but if a critter comes on our property and threatens our animals we have to protect them. Our animals depend on us to care for them.
A quill in the tendon may need watching. Ouch!

 

[1roadtoad]

Sorry that you have also had to deal with porcupine quills in your animals. I'm assuming that your horses ended up being okay, which is what I was hoping to hear from someone. I did not attempt to remove the quills myself because I was afraid that I might break the barbs off which could have catastrophic consequences. Both donks got a dose of pain killer last night from the vet and Charlotte will be on antibiotics for the next 10 days. I did know that porcupines damage trees, but never thought that they would hurt my animals. This morning, first thing, I caught the porcupine in a metal garbage can and relocated it to nature preserve about 15 miles from my house. Thanks for the input.

 

[LostandFound]

Oh no! That looks terribly painful. I've only seen a porcupine once in my life, I don't think they are common here. I would trust your vet on this one, if they haven't seen it before I'm sure they know another vet that has. Although dog snouts are the probably the most common place.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

My horses were fine. We were told to snip off the tip of the quill and the barbs would come out easier. Not sure this is true but we did get the quills out. Did not count them. And none, thank God, went so deeply as a tendon.
Pepper's recent treed one went his way. Thank you for releasing yours away from other farms. A rather exciting venture capturing him in the trashcan!

 

[chandab]

Like Marsha, our encounters were in the nose. Two of my full size horses (maybe it was three, it's been awhile) had encounters and each ended up with quills in the nose, which we removed ourselves. The first, I'm pretty sure was "surprise" encounter, as the horses were in brushy pastures, so likely grazing along and surprised a porcupine and got nailed in the nose.
To my knowledge porcupines don't seek out "trouble" it finds them, usually they are surprised, so they slap that tail at whatever startled them, leaving behind quills stuck in whatever they hit with their tail. It gives them time to flee, as they are not quick movers (they kind of waddle). They like tree bark, and often ring trees, which will kill the tree.

 

[HersheyMint]

I'm glad all quills were able to be removed. How are Willow and Charlotte feeling today?

 

[1roadtoad]

The girls seem to be a-ok. Charlotte’s (who had the 41 quills) leg is a little sore, but I’ve checked it often and it seems to be on the mend. Temps are also good, so I’ll just keep watching them closely and continue the antibiotics. Thanks to all for input and kind messages.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

The girls seem to be a-ok. Charlotte’s (who had the 41 quills) leg is a little sore, but I’ve checked it often and it seems to be on the mend. Temps are also good, so I’ll just keep watching them closely and continue the antibiotics. Thanks to all for input and kind messages.

Wow, so happy to hear Charlotte seems okay. The quill in the tendon could have been terrible.
This experience will either make them both extra cautious, or Charlotte may have a vendetta against porcupines.