A dog owner has shown the reality of living in a rural area with lots of wildlife, as his dog got into an altercation with a porcupine.
Reddit user r/bamhall lives on a ranch in rural Canada, and along with the freedom, sense of peace and privacy that comes with living rural, comes some unique issues -- such as dealing with the local wildlife.
Recently, he showed the reality of living up close and personal with nature, as his livestock guardian dog got a bit too close to a porcupine.
In a post shared to r/homestead on February 10, he showed a photo of his golden retriever dog, whose face was covered almost entirely with porcupine needles. His mouth, nose, and one side of his face were covered in the long, sharp, and painful quills, as his owner wrote: "Bad morning at the homestead."
"Woke up to my boy like this whimpering on the steps. The true meaning of FAFO [f* around and find out]."
He added: "He was definitely embarrassed getting loaded into the truck to go to the vet."
North American porcupines are found across Canada and much of the United States, and veterinarians are often called in to help with pets who got too close to the creatures. The rodents, typically found in forests, have coats of sharp quills which are used to protect them from predators.
Porcupine quills are released on contact, and a porcupine may attack a perceived threat -- such as a dog -- after making a defensive display. These quills can become embedded in a dog's skin and cause serious health issues if not removed quickly, according to Alberta Animal Health Source.
As embedded quills can migrate in a dog's body, potentially puncturing internal organs, pet owners are advised to immediately contact a veterinarian if their pet is quilled, and not attempt to trim the quills themselves.
In the case of this golden retriever, it appears he had a lucky escape. In comments, his owner said the dog "got into a fight with a porcupine [while] protecting our livestock," and while the injuries were "pretty bad," he's recovering well after three hours of surgery, "with no permanent injuries except his pride."
Responding to one commenter, the owner said that while it looks as though one quill may have entered into the dog's eye, it was "actually in his eyebrow, not even the lid," calling it "very lucky."
As for whether the dog had ever had a run-in with a porcupine before, he confirmed he "hasn't encountered a porcupine till today, and had to learn the lesson the hard way."
Reddit users were full of sympathy for the dog and his owner, and flocked to the post to ask questions and share their own stories.
One commenter wrote on the post, which has more than 12,000 upvotes: "Hopefully just a learning experience and no permanent damage," as another agreed it was "a bad one."
"Sorry your boy got so many, I hope he mends quickly and learns from this experience," another wished, as one shared their own story: "Been there recently along with the excruciating 1 hr drive to the vet and yelling at him to stop scratching at his face. You can sometimes pull them yourself but when it's this severe and there's a lot of mouth, eye, etc stuff going on, vet is the way to go."
And as another shared: "Oof yea been there, the vets are very familiar with our dogs and their porcupine adventures."
Newsweek has contacted r/bamhall via Reddit to comment on this story.