We're still at the cottage and I wanna tell ya me 'n Toby aren't feelin' too well as of late.....well, Toby feels better 'n me right now but he wasn't doin' too good lately either.....
After the Barkday party 'n eatin' our yummy cake...we went up ta Uncle Donny's cottage ta chase around the crab apples like we love ta do in the evenings. Uncle Donny is at his cottage right now so we visited fer a spell with him....'n it was gettin' ta be pretty dark. Gram and Pap were standin' there talkin 'n talkin' when we shoulda been walkin' and walkin' and so we got bored and saw somethin' in the trees just off the driveway. We went in ta see what it was.....Can ya guess what it was??????
See that??? That's a PORCUPINE.....
"n we don't like 'em around here...cause this is our space...'n not his space....why he's an intruder fer sure...... yes siree...'n he needed ta be taught a lesson...our space here....his space somewhere else......
Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend them from predators. Most porcupines are about 25–36 in (630–910 mm) long, with an 8–10 in (200–250 mm) long tail. Weighing between 12–35 lb (5.4–16 kg), they are rounded, large and slow. Porcupines come in various shades of brown, grey, and the unusual white. The name "porcupine" comes from Middle French porc d'épine "thorny pig". Porcupines' spiny protection resembles that of the distantly related Erinaceomorph hedgehogs and more distantly related Monotreme Echidnas.
All defend themselves with hair modified into sharp spines. Porcupines' quills or spines take on various forms, depending on the species, but all are modified hairs coated with thick plates of keratin, and they are embedded in the skin musculature. Old World porcupines (Hystricidae) have quills embedded in clusters, whereas in New World porcupines (Erethizontidae) single quills are interspersed with bristles, underfur, and hair.
Porcupine quills are as sharp as needles, detach very easily, and will remain embedded in an attacker. Unlike needles, however, the quills of New World porcupines have microscopic, backwards-facing barbs on the tip that catch on the skin making them difficult and painful to extract, though they must be removed. Quills are about 75 millimetres (3.0 in) long and 2 millimetres (0.079 in) wide. If a quill becomes lodged in the tissues of a would-be attacker, the barbs act to pull the quill further into the tissues with the normal muscle movements of the attacker, moving up to several millimeters in a day. Predators have been known to die as a result of quill penetration and infection. Quills are still capable of penetrating animals and humans even after death. [1] Quills are released by contact with them or they may drop out when the porcupine shakes them, they are not sprayed out.
Know what??? We didn't want that porcupine ta be there and so we tried ta get it ta go away....actually we tried ta kill it and we did.......but if ya read about what that animal does ta defend itself.....you'll understand why then we looked like this.......
And Toby looked like this......
My Mom got inta the fight at the end and so she didn't have many quills in her and while Gram was inside makin' arrangements fer an emergency visit ta the vets, Uncle Donny and Pap pulled the quills outta her with a pair of pliers. Gram and Pap took us all ta the vet in Franklin, Pa which takes about 45 minutes ta get ta from the cottage. The Vet had ta put me 'n Toby under anesthetic ta get the quills outta us. Here's Toby after he was de-quilled and still groggy from the anesthetic..... we had ta get shots of antibiotic too ta make sure we didn't get any infection later.
I was under the anesthetic here and the Vet was pullin' out those horrible quills.....
And then I got ta rest just like Toby while I was still groggy.......
I'm still am usin' my sick bed taday.....my one foot hurts and I don't want ta use it. So what's the good part about all this????? The PORCUPINE IS DEAD!!!!! We killed it!!!!!!
Gee, I sure hope I remember that good part until I feel good enough ta get up and play again....This is Dewey Dewster reportin' from my sick bed outside Titusville, Pa............
