Damn.
Bet he won't lay under a falling porcupine again!
Lucky it didn't take both his eyes out. Thank God!
I would guess that took anesthesia to get them pulled. 100 needles or so stuck in your forehead with barbs on them would not be fun. I pulled enough out of dogs already to know you can virtually feel them with a pliers grabbing and tearing flesh on the way out.
Poor guy probably figured on getting out of the way but with laying on his back with his arms inside the hole, the ability to scoot out of the would've been a no go, and apparently nobody thought enough to grab him by the legs and yank him out when he shot. Lol. You are right about his eyes, first thing I thought of when I first seen the picture. Could've been bad.
Trick is to trim them about half way off and then pull them. It allows the barb to release.
You might get away with that with a minor amount and the right dog.....they hurt and dogs have to convince themselves to take it just touching the quills with any tool . No dog is going to stand for dealing with a substantial amount of quills TWICE. None. I've had some that did their best to allow you to deal with them, but they aren't gonna take that. Besides that I haven't seen a vet yet that doesn't dispute that notion. Under a microscope the barbs are fashioned like fish scales attached to the outside, they aren't barbs sticking out but a lot of scales laid over each other facing forward, like on a fish. Cutting the quill doesn't change that. If you've ever dealt with them at all you know the slightest touch and they will go in deeper. So now you have an even shorter quill to try and grab and remove.
Best thing to do if the dog will stand for it is just one at a time grab them with a pliers length wise and rip them straight out quick. If a dog is fighting you make up a gag to keep their mouth open and keep them from biting. I've done it both ways. It aint fun but they gotta come out.
