Coyote or fox scent applied around your yard can help keep porcupines away, but it must be applied often. Some people claim that porcupines often catch on to the fact that there is no real predators around and start coming back.

Physical description. Hedgehogs are easily recognized by their spines, which are hollow hairs made stiff with keratin. Their spines are not poisonous or barbed and, unlike the quills of a porcupine, do not easily detach from their bodies. Spines can also shed when the animal is diseased or under extreme stress.

The North American porcupine has a strong odor to warn away predators, which it can increase when agitated. The smell has been described as similar to strong human body odor, goats, or some cheeses.

The porcupine is not an aggressive animal and will only attack if it is threatened. If the threat continues, the porcupine will turn its back, raise its quills and lash with its tail.

According to new research, porcupine quills aren’t just a painful deterrent, they’re deadly daggers that porcupines are not afraid to use to kill. In a new study by Emiliano Mori and colleagues, the team recorded, for the first time, porcupines using their quills to stab and kill foxes, badgers and dogs.

While porcupine quills are not poisonous, only a doctor or veterinarian should attempt to remove them. Quills have barbs that cannot be seen by the naked eye. These barbs make removal painful and tricky.

Porcupine quills have microscopic barbs at their tips which facilitate skin penetration, but hampering their removal. Once the spines are lodged in tissue, the microscopic backward-facing deployable barbs at the tips cause trauma if anyone tries to remove them.

When partial or full quills remain lodged in the skin, there is a potential for migration and additional complications. Please note, quills do not transmit rabies; we would only be concerned about rabies in a patient with bite-wounds, or where the dog bit the porcupine.

Because of their barbs, porcupine quills can get stuck in a dog’s soft tissue can move deeper into the body if they’re not removed right away. Quills can even enter joints, harm internal organs, or cause abscesses, Lucerne Veterinary Hospital warns.

North American porcupines have around 30,000 quills on their backs. Each one is tipped with microscopic backwards-facing barbs, which supposedly make it harder to pull the quills out once they’re stuck in.

Can I remove the porcupine quills from my dogs myself if needed? No. Removing porcupine quills without the benefit of sedation or anesthesia and potent pain relief is extremely painful. This can result in a struggle, which can push the quills deeper, and a dog may lash out and bite, without meaning to hurt you.

A porcupine’s quills are likely to be covered in bacteria which can cause infection and abscesses. The longer the quills are embedded in your dog, the further into the tissue they move in. And, the deeper they go, the more likely abscesses will form and complications will ensue.

Records show that quills left untreated for over 24 hours may increase the risk of an abscess that requires drainage. Depending on the condition of your dog, antibiotics and pain medication could be prescribed.

Porcupine quills can be very painful and they can also introduce serious infection if not dealt with quickly and effectively.