Multitool options- porcupine protection

vftt.org

Help Support vftt.org:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Peakbagr

Peakbagr

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 3, 2003
Messages
3,868
Reaction score
284
Location
Near the Adirondack Blue Line
I've been doing a lot of hiking with my dog the last 18 months. Many of the trips are in the Catskills which are just loaded with porcupines.
She's had 2 close calls with porkies, one on the ground and one that she treed.
My pal, Rik also hikes with his dog and reminded me that a muzzlefull of quills is just a matter of time. I have a heavy Leatherman but have been searching for something smaller. Over the weekend I picked up a Gerber clutch. It weighs in at under 2.5 oz on my postage scale and is about 2 1/4" x 3/4" when folded.
It has a small, needle nosed pliers with a side cutter that folds out of the handle. Also a tweezers, knife blade, screwdrivers and other small tools that fold out.
For those with dogs, this seems like the perfect tool in case you have to cut quills and then pull them in the field.

I usually sew a knife sheath inside of my packs' main compartments. It would be nice if I can find a small, nylon sheath to carry the Gerber in my Summer pack.
 
You can get a nylon sheath from Gerber that the Clutch will fit in. Gerber part number 08762 is a medium nylon sheath that fits products 4-4.5 in long, so it would be perfect for the Clutch.
Check this company out, Skybox USA , it's a customer of mine, and they're good, honest people. You can get the sheath there (heck, I have one in stock.) He may not have it listed, but if you tell him Josh said you could get it from him, he'll sku it up..
 
After reading some of those "How To's" on porcupines I decided a locking medical clamp, technically called Needle Holders (non-technically; Roach, but I digress) would be the best tool for the job. These are light, small nosed, grippy jawed and locking. I think a multi-tool plier would be much less efficient.
 
Chip said:
called Needle Holders (non-technically; Roach, but I digress) would be the best tool for the job.
Click to expand...

Actually they are called flyfishing forcepts for removing hooks from fishlips or human earlobes. Surgeons and college freshmen have found them usefull also.
 
Puck said:
Actually they are called flyfishing forcepts for removing hooks from fishlips or human earlobes. Surgeons and college freshmen have found them usefull also.
Click to expand...
Hemostats ! That's what I was trying for !
Hemostat, Forcept, clamp, holder...Give a stoner or a fisherman a medical device and they'll figure out a use for it.
 
One of the things I've read and been told is that you want to be able to cut the quills. The hemostat option doesn't offer the option. Small needlenose pliers with a side cutter do. The Gerber tool is lighter and smaller than a small needlenose. Because it folds, you don't have to deal with the sharp point of needlenose pliers, or the pointy end of the hemostat.

Hey, what do I know. I just got them.

Alan
 
Peakbagr said:
One of the things I've read and been told is that you want to be able to cut the quills. The hemostat option doesn't offer the option. Small needlenose pliers with a side cutter do. The Gerber tool is lighter and smaller than a small needlenose. Because it folds, you don't have to deal with the sharp point of needlenose pliers, or the pointy end of the hemostat.

Hey, what do I know. I just got them.

Alan
Click to expand...

You can get hemostats with snips.
 
I've had several rounds of quill pulling with dogs. I've never heard of cutting them, what are the benefits of doing this? For my dog it would only make a smaller target to aim for, as he HATES having any type of metal hinged object near his face.

I have used a multi-tool to pull quills in the backcountry. The biggest problem was that it took five people to hold the dog down... :eek:
 
Terra had a run in last fall and I pulled most of them out trailside with my fingers, but I have really small hands so maybe that made it easier. I also didn't have a tool, so that was my only option. :)

One thing I would also add is that its a good idea to have a blindfold/hankerchief to cover thier eyes so they don't stress to much seeing the hemostats coming at them.

On cutting them, I've read online that the quills will swell if not cut, but my vet said it was an urban myth. Has anyone else heard that from thier vet?
 
I've found hemostats are the easiest tool also. Between the fine head, and the locking grip in case you need it, they work very well.

The blindfold is a good idea. When we dequilled Newton, towards the end he started to whimper a bit when he saw the 'stats getting near his head.

I think cutting the quills is an urban myth. I've had a friend with lots of quill experience, her Nina never learned to leave them alone. Her vet never cut the quills before pulling.

However, a cutting tool may be useful, should you encounter quills you cannot remove. Trim the quills shorter, then get the dog to a vet.
 
But don't the quills work their way in deeper the longer they're left in? So wouldn't cutting allow potential for them to dissappear?
 
sleeping bear said:
But don't the quills work their way in deeper the longer they're left in? So wouldn't cutting allow potential for them to dissappear?
Click to expand...

The approach my vet took for the few remaining quills (which were broken off at the base) on Terra was to put her on antibiotics and let them naturally expell themselves. Within about a week they had formed a small pustule and then erupted.

In our situation there was no way to get her to calm down until they were out, and she was relieved to have them removed right there on the trail. My vet later said that many dogs require anesthesia, so maybe a good idea is to have some sort of tranquilizer pill from the vet's office as well as a starting dose of antibiotics in the first aid kit as well, on longer trips when getting to the vet may be a day or more away.
 
sleeping bear said:
But don't the quills work their way in deeper the longer they're left in? So wouldn't cutting allow potential for them to dissappear?
Click to expand...

Yes, sometimes quills do move, either working through, or backing out. Ideally, I would try not to cut the quills. If I had to, I would try to leave them long enough to easily find - perhaps 1/2 inch or more?

una_dogger said:
In our situation there was no way to get her to calm down until they were out, and she was relieved to have them removed right there on the trail.
Click to expand...

It's truly amazing to me how quickly a dog shakes off being quilled. It looks horrifically painful, and puncture wounds HURT, never mind >100 all at once! Even with a face and mouthful of quills, Newton was chewing and eating dry kibbles just a couple of hours later. Maybe I'm just a wimp...
 
Well, climbing Rose Mt today....2nd hike with the multipliers and 2 of the dogs got a face full of quills. A full face. I worked on Bookah and after I got her down and covered her eyes, she let me take them out of her nose, mouth, gums, tongue, muzzle and face. What a little trooper. Fearful, but not a whimper.
I then turned to assist my friend, Eileen with her dog who had even more. Bigger dog, but after we got him down on his side, we worked on him with 2 set of pliers. What a mess! blood everywhere, but it seemed like we got 'em all. 15 min later, after the event was over, both dogs were back to normal, and Bookah was prowling the woods for mice and chipmunks.
Put to use lots of good advice received here...thank you.

Alan
 
Last edited:
After our encounter last year, Genie had a couple of quills left in her paw that we didn't notice for a couple of weeks, till she started limping.

Was there just one porkie that did all the damage?
 
quills

Peakbagr said:
2nd hike with the multipliers and 2 of the dogs got a face full of quills.
Click to expand...

Fortunate timing for the dogs - not that they got quilled, but that you had your multitool.

I read the article about porcupines in my Paul Rezendes book, "Tracking and the Art of Seeing" this morning.

In the section about quills, he cites the works of Uldis Roze who studied them for years in the Catskills. He stated that the quills contain a fatty acid that acts as an antibiotic, which is why infection so rarely happens. He said that the quills do have a barbed end, and that barb is how they work themselves further into tissue. As the quilled animal's muscles move, the barb works the quills in deeper.
 
We heard one of the dogs barking and just assumed it was one porcupine. Thats how I usually see them. Don't think I've ever seen a pair.

Thats interesting on the barbing of the quills. When we were done, I picked us a number of them and slid my finger along them right down to and over the points. While needle sharp there was no barb on the end of any of them that I could feel. Could be that the barb comes our when you pull the quill?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Peakbagr
Dogs and Porcupines
Replies
2
Views
1K
una_dogger
una_dogger
Waumbek
Quilled Pooch Trapped in Mt. Mansfield Cave
Replies
8
Views
3K
masshysteria
masshysteria

Latest posts

Top