Monday Mischief 23: The Porcupine Strikes Back
April 27, 2014 29 Comments
It may be tempting to cry ‘mischief’ on behalf of mother nature, since the past two weekends we’ve had significant snowfalls, but the truth is, April is the second-snowiest month for Calgary, after March.
But in true Calgary form, it’s gone as quickly as it arrives, and we’ve also had some nice weather for spending time outside.
Now, regular readers might remember that Moses had his first ever porcupine encounter in January at this very same off-leash park (click here for the story). No real meeting occurred thanks to my frantic interception quick and graceful thinking, but it was close.
What I did not think of since was now Moses knows the scent for porcupine.
So, as we’re heading back to the car, that wasn’t my first thought when Moses scampered down an embankment. I figured maybe he’d spotted a squirrel or chipmunk – which he’ll go after, despite having no hope in hell at catching one. We’d already walked past that exact spot once without incident, and it was the middle of the afternoon, so I wasn’t initially concerned.
When I heard him breaking through thick brush, it hit me – what else have we seen in the park? A porcupine!
This time Moses had a head start. And a lower clearance to make it through the brush quicker.
By the time I caught up, the porcupine had wedged itself in the centre of a dense bush, back to Moses, and head down, hoping we’ll just leave him alone.
Since I wasn’t as quick as I was last time, Moses had a few seconds to do whatever he was going to do to the porcupine without interruption.
And it was just as I had expected.
He sniffed it.
That’s it.
I got there and Moses looked at me, looked at the porcupine, wagged his tail, and looked back at me.
He was so thrilled he made a new friend. (The porcupine felt otherwise.)
So thrilled, he didn’t even notice he got these:
So I leashed him back up and we took our walk of shame back up the hill to the path.
Then I inspected the damage. Four quills. That’s it. LUCKY.
They weren’t in deep – barely hanging on – so I dealt with them then and there and pulled them out. Moses didn’t even wince.
Back in the parking lot, I did a full face and mouth inspection looking for more and found none.
Since weekends are when I try to walk the dogs separately, Alma wasn’t there. And I’m glad. I really have no idea how she’d react to a porcupine – or to receiving a couple of quills – but I do know she’s not as easy going as Moses. I’m not keen to find out what she’d do.

Look at this adorable baby porcupine. A dog-porcupine interaction is rarely fatal for dogs, but frequently results in harm to the porcupine. I’d hate for one of my dogs to be the cause of that. Make sure if you have a dog/porcupine incident you make sure the porcupine is okay, too! There’s more than likely a local wildlife rehabilitation centre to call if not.
This post is part of the Mischief Monday blog hop – to see what everyone else has been up to, visit Snoopy’s Dog Blog here, My Brown Newfies here, or Alfie’s Blog here.