Porcupines

[bearrassler]

I have had it with porcupines, three of our dogs got into one last Labor day with one having about 350 quills in it, then 2 of our dogs got into one on Mermorial day with one having well over 400 quills in it, and now on the 4th of July, 3 of them got into another one with our German Shepard having about 250 quills in her face, mouth, and chest. I am sick of going to the Vet and paying the emergency fee since it always happens on a holiday. At least they are killing the porcupines, maybe we will run out of them soon.

 

[mvedepo]

Looks like they need to learn not to play with them..lol Took my dog getting sprayed by a skunk twice before he learned to stay away from them.

 

[xsledder]

Hay, at least my dogs sticks to squirrels, possums, mice, bunnies, turtles, and yes, skunks.

 

[Grant Hoar]

xsledder

What about the birds, bambi's, chipmunks, etc?

I thought by now your yard was pretty much critter free

 

[700classic]

They must be slow learners.

 

[landoman]

OUr chocolate lab caught a small porkie around memorial day weekend. She was calm enough that my wife and I removed them - about 75 or so. We then cleaned her beak with hydrogen peroxide.

 

[sixball]

Wrap the dog in a blanket so it can't fight get a pair of pliers and have at it.

 

[jr37]

Many years ago our dog got a nose full of quills. We got a sedative from the vet so she wouldn't fight us, and we pulled them out from the inside of her mouth. They come out easier that way, if that is an option for you.

 

[yamahauler]

Ouch.

The dog is thinking...really, the camera, I have friggen quills all over my beak man.

Sorry, had to add some humor. I pulled some out one time from my dog and it sucks.

Sounds like you need to find where they are coming from with a 12 gauge.

 

[junior1]

Make sure when you pull them yourself you are supposed to cut the quill open and it pulls out easier. may have been told this a time or two

 

[anonomoose]

I have had it with porcupines, three of our dogs got into one last Labor day with one having about 350 quills in it, then 2 of our dogs got into one on Mermorial day with one having well over 400 quills in it, and now on the 4th of July, 3 of them got into another one with our German Shepard having about 250 quills in her face, mouth, and chest. I am sick of going to the Vet and paying the emergency fee since it always happens on a holiday. At least they are killing the porcupines, maybe we will run out of them soon.

I assume your dogs are out running loose? If so, isn't there a rule about running them after April?

Perhaps a de-quilled carcass can be used in conjunction with a good training collar to be used to prevent this from happening in the future?

A training collar will teach them that going for anything that smells like a porky is a big no no.

Rather than trying to rid the county of porkies....I would try that one.

I had an uncle who's bird dog tangled with one on a bird hunt and this was how he cured that dog from going for them, forever. He would head back to his owner after seeing one from then on.

Dogs that go for any animal like this could also be good candidate for contracting rabies. Ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure here.....I suspect you might know someone with a collar...and he/she could lend it to you....rather than buy one for the purpose.

 

[snow_monkey]

I rescued a baby porky on the road leading to my cabin. Super cute, Rolled him back into the woods to live another day!!!

 

[bearrassler]

I assume your dogs are out running loose? If so, isn't there a rule about running them after April?

Perhaps a de-quilled carcass can be used in conjunction with a good training collar to be used to prevent this from happening in the future?

A training collar will teach them that going for anything that smells like a porky is a big no no.

Rather than trying to rid the county of porkies....I would try that one.

I had an uncle who's bird dog tangled with one on a bird hunt and this was how he cured that dog from going for them, forever. He would head back to his owner after seeing one from then on.

Dogs that go for any animal like this could also be good candidate for contracting rabies. Ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure here.....I suspect you might know someone with a collar...and he/she could lend it to you....rather than buy one for the purpose.

This is happening at our lake property in MN, we have 120 acres of woods and lakeshore and they are running loose. The vet that pulled the quills out on July 4th told me about using a collar. We have two or three training collars so when I get out to the lake again I will have to find a dead porcupine that is not rotting away to bad and put the collar on them and see how it works. I have had many dogs over the last 40 years tangle with porkies but the last 3 times were the worst.

 

[anonomoose]

I remember long before training collars were readily available and only experimental and very pricey, I had a young beagle which was a cross between a basset hound and a beagle, which we got when we were just kids. As we grew older we hunted rabbits and pheasants behind that dog all season long. He was good at it and we did lots of it.

Anyway, we decided to take him north for a hunt in mid Michigan, and try him on snowshoe rabbits. We started off Saturday morning for about 15 minutes and the dog lit out balling and bellering cross country. He found out that there were some REALLY big rabbits with long tails in this country and off he went to chase them. He traveled across a whole several miles til we could finally catch up to him. Needless to say we were not happy with his decided preference for these long legged animals that grow antlers in the fall.

Not knowing grass from corn stalks, I asked my uncle what I should do about it. He said, "every time he sticks his head in a track" whack him!

It was pretty funny after the first few nosings of those bad tracks. He would stick his nose in, and then wince because he knew what was coming. And by golly it worked like a charm....after the first day of nose in track and whack..whack, whack....he got the message and never looked at one again.

He was a great dog, and though technically he was my younger brothers dog, we covered a lot of ground with him and my memories of him are some of the best ever.

All dogs are trainable, if you have the time to train them. The collar works extremely well for this type of training and can curb a bad habit better than anything else going.

 

[snocrazy]

I have had a different kind of Porcupine issue. I had about 10 sheets of plywood leaning in the wood shed. A porcupine decided to pay a visit. It ate 1 foot off of te end of all of the sheets. Even ate the wheelbarrel handles off.
It was nice enough to leave souveniers of crap pellets every where.

I am all about appreciating nature and all but when it comes to my house being taken over.... well you have to do what you have to do.

This was right before one of the last snow falls. During that last snowfall, I found a set of tracks and followed it with my trusty Browning A500.
Problem solved.

I have been fighing the nature back around heer trying to keep the house from being devoured. Beavers, squirrels, chipmunks, carpenter ants, mice, and porcupines are on the most wanted list around here.

 

[anonomoose]

If you want to protect your cabin, go buy a block of salt and put it on a stump near the cabin.

There must have been something salty in that plywood. That is what they crave. Sweat on those handles...same thing.

Do you have a dog that likes to lift his leg on the plywood?

A block of salt will do the trick, and bring some deer around once in awhile too. We used to have issues with them chewing the backhouse up til we discovered the salt block thing and it has been years since we have had any damage from them by keeping the salt block going.

 

[sixball]

My Grandfather took an old mahogany boat to his cabin in the U.P.. Well winter came so he put it in the old shed. The next spring he went up to do some fishing. As he opened the shed he is a little pissed someone had stoled the boat. After looking around he realized he was finding brass screws the ore cradles and other small metal parts. Yeper porkies ate the entire boat.