Friday, October 26, 2007

PORCUPINE!


While our wondrous short rib dinner was cooking, we took our usual route hike which takes about 2 1/2 hours, high above our house along a rim trail. We saw no wildlife at all, which has been the state of things the last two weeks during hunting season... (eek)



Look close near center and you can see the orange Honda Element.

We were getting near home, when Molly ran into some scrub oaks and started rolling, then leaping in the air. Then she ran out. We figured she was rolling on elk poop or something similar.

Then Jon said, "She's got quills in her mouth." I got down and pulled out all I could find. They were outside her mouth, and on her orange raincoat. With porcupine quills, you have to get them right away before the base end starts to swell. Then it becomes really painful.

I said, "She must have rolled on a dead porcupine. I'm going to look for it." So I trudged around the scrub while Jon kept Molly in a down stay. I couldn't find it. I stood still. I heard something move nearby. I gave up.

Only when we were home did we put it all together. It must have been a live porcupine that Molly discovered in the brush, and she rolled on it. When it hurt, she ran back to us. This is what dog owners hope MOST will happen with the first porcupine incident.

It never played this way with Chow Chows. They would bark and snap and bark and snap and have to go to the vet usually because there would be too many quills. We wonder if Molly's porky may have been a baby-- the quills were fairly small.



When we got home, I removed more quills while she lay quietly. She is such a good dog.

Years ago we would frequently see porcupines, and had to build little fences around young pine trees, because they can just strip them and kill them. But we had a neighbor who was a porky vigilante and shot everyone he saw. Even though they caused trouble for dogs and trees, we missed seeing the porkies. So it was kind of a treat to know they were still around. We thought he'd gotten every last one.

The crock pot recipe was basically this one, without the mushrooms or sour cream. Later Jon ran a 16 mm print of THE LETTER, directed by William Wyler, starring my favorite BETTE DAVIS. This movie is a great one. It also connected in my mind with Lord Jim, which I recently read.

ps an email I got this week:
Psychic Lenny Offers Free Numerology Reports would like to be added to your MySpace friends list.

No wonder I stay away from myspace! Do you?

8 comments:

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Aw, poor Molly. First the spider and now the porcupine! I'm glad she has the "this can only lead to trouble" sense that some dogs lacked, and retreated

Anonymous said...

Glad Molly's OK! I'm envious of your 2.5 mile hike. Sounds so invigorating! I also avoid myspace. I had a student worker who only communicated that way, so I had to get on to talk to her, but when I get messages that strangers want contact I just delete them. William Wyler's "The Letter"?

Anonymous said...

Should be called My Empty Space...as in cranial roominess from underuse.

Linda Davick said...

I see the orange Honda! Ok, now I'm beginning to understand why you're hanging around in CO. Wow ... a 2 1/2 hour hike every day? You can double the sour cream in that recipe (instead of leaving it out!) Do you not like mushrooms?

Molly is a gift from the gods.

Sally said...

Yeah, vets have told me that the first encounter with a porcupine sets the stage for the future, so I think we're okay with Molly. She is just so smart. (okay, everyone thinks their pet is smart- I even think our rooster Elle is smart) but German Shepherds were BRED to be smart. Ja, das ist wahr.

Jean, my myspace account looks like "My Empty Space." I had to sign up for one while working for a lame music "client" but just can't bring myself to do anything with it.

Linda, we didn't have the mushrooms or sour cream. I love both. And I think you could walk four hours a day and still not lose a pound, alas.

Anonymous said...

As a kid, my mom (named Elizabeth) decided to be called Bette and started answering to nothing else because she liked Bette Davis so much.

Sally said...

Sally G, Bette Davis was such a great actress, but I'm not sure I'd want my mother to choose her as a role model!

"Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!" ("All About Eve")

Anonymous said...

Mom is a little dramatic, now that you mention it....