High Altitude Porcupine

[Tornadoman]

I was coming down from 13er Citadel today and was still on the ridge and pretty high (probably 12,700 to 12,800 feet) when I saw what I thought was a strange looking marmot with long fur lumbering up some cliffy terrain. As I got closer I realized the fur was quills and it was a high altitude porcupine! I know they have been a nuisance around trailheads by treeline, but has anyone else seen one so high? That was certainly a first for me and although completely unexpected was a welcome addition to the hike.

Porky.JPG

[wyyld]

Prolly just trying to finish his centennial list

[bigredmachine]

Yup, last fall, 200' ft short of the San Luis summit my dog Wilson unsuccessfully tried to befriend a porcupine. I pulled at least 80 quils from his upper chest/neck and snout.

[Tornadoman]

Yup, last fall, 200' ft short of the San Luis summit my dog Wilson unsuccessfully tried to befriend a porcupine. I pulled at least 80 quils from his upper chest/neck and snout.

Wow, that sounds nasty. Did he have any long term health issues from all those quills?

[James Dziezynski]

I had a losing porcupine encounter across the valley from Citadel en route to Golden Bear / Hagar. Final score was Porcupine 2, Dogs 0. One pup took the brunt of it, probably 200 quills and they were still coming out months later.

Pro-Tip: If you snip the tops of the quills with scissors, it releases air in the quill and makes it easier to pull out. Also, if your dog gets 'pined, bring 'em to the vet. If they get quills in their chest, they can migrate into their hearts... not good.

[bigredmachine]

Yup, last fall, 200' ft short of the San Luis summit my dog Wilson unsuccessfully tried to befriend a porcupine. I pulled at least 80 quils from his upper chest/neck and snout.

Wow, that sounds nasty. Did he have any long term health issues from all those quills?

No issues whatsoever, I was able to pull about 20 of them right then before he started wincing. Went to the summit and pulled another 20 or so...and so on. Had them all out in an hour or so and finished the hike no problem.

James, good to know on the heart issue going forward. Also I'm sure Wilson would have been much more appreciative had a cut I cut the tops of the quils off rather than just pulling with leatherman.

[TallGrass]

FWIW, simplest way handle quills in Wilderness and National Forest is keeping your dog from getting them to begin with leash.

Pro-Tip: If you snip the tops of the quills with scissors, it releases air in the quill and makes it easier to pull out.

Dogs... "6. Never cut the quills before removing. You may have heard or read advice about cutting the porcupine quill in half so it deflates and is easier to remove. Do not follow this advice: it can actually make the quills more difficult to grab on to, or even splinter them into several broken pieces."

Humans... "3. Never cut the quills before removal. Many people cut the hollow quill before removing so that it deflates and become smaller. Professionals, however, advise not to do this, as it can make the quill harder to grasp and could cause it to break apart into several splinters."
http://www.wikihow.com/Remove-Porcupine-Quills

"If there are a lot of quills, please do not try to remove the quills yourself , either by pulling on them, or by cutting off the ends. There are many websites and blogs that advise cutting the quills in order to release pressure and make them easier to remove- this is not true. Cutting the ends off the quill only makes the exposed portion smaller and more difficult if not impossible to remove. ... If your dog has more than a few quills you should bring it in to see a veterinarian right away; it is an emergency. The dog is in pain; and many dogs will paw incessantly at the quills to stop the pain, thus breaking the quills and making them harder to extract."
http://riverroadveterinary.com/porcupine-quills-in-dogs/

More do's and don'ts, ironically the website starts with...
"The Internet has lots of bad advice about removing porcupine quills from your dog yourself. But complications are more likely to occur if you try to go DIY."
http://www.petful.com/pet-health/porcup ... s-on-dogs/

[San Juan Ron]

I have seen several porkys in the 12,000-13,000 elevation range including living underneath the CT Yurt on the Continental Divide in the San Juan Mountains near 12,000 feet.

[samjaffe]

My dog had a porcupine encounter in a valley below a fourteener a couple of years ago. More than eighty quills in her and nose and mouth area. The only time she showed discomfort was when I tried to pull them out by hand (I didn't have plyers with me). I could get them out with my hands, but only by moving them around alot, and it clearly hurt her. So I ended up pulling them all out with my teeth. I was able to get more pressure with my teeth so I could do a short hard yank. Not a peep from my dog the whole time, but I could tell she was mentally worried. When the very last one came out, She bounded away and started looking for pika again. I ended up doing the whole climb with her and she showed no signs of pain or bleeding after I got them all out. Two important lessons learned: 1)keep them on leash when down low in porcupine-rich areas 2)from that point on I always carried a pair of plyers when I climbed with my dogs. One other point that I learned was that my dog is a complete stoic and she won't display pain under the worst of circumstances. As a result, I stopped taking her climbing once she started to age because I couldn't rely on her to let me know if she was experiencing pain or discomfort. So now every time I go on a climbing trip, she runs around joyfully while I'm packing and then, when she realizes she's not going, she just stares out the window with her big dog eyes, as if she's in mourning.