Monday, June 29, 2009

Contest alert! Keep on reading...

"There's something big up there," said John as he was about to start the tractor, getting ready to unload the hay rake.

"Where? Is it maybe a horse?" I asked.

Sure enough, it was Scout, up on the hill. It took me a moment to figure out that he was not inside the fence.

I called to him as I nonchalantly headed for the shed to grab a halter, but he kept moving, kind of agitated. That wasn't like him. As I walked up the hill he kept quickly walking, not coming to me but not running away. Strange, but hey, maybe he was feeling adventurous.

Then I made a discovery and took him to the front porch to request a camera and a couple tools.

The poor little guy.

Look at that sad face! I don't think he was very happy about his predicament, but I'm not sure how much it really hurt, since he was still grazing even with all those quills in his nose. Maybe it was comfort food.

He must have thought he could move the strange, poky stranger just like he does the cat. Didn't work out so well though.

We did get all the quills out. One looked like it probably left the tiniest piece of a tip in there. I hope it doesn't get infected. I don't know what to do now other than keep an eye on it. It looked good this evening.

Uh-oh. Wait a minute. Look here. I think I missed some.
Darn it all. I'll have to get a better look in the morning.

So, on to that contest. I have a couple horse related items here, and if you can guess the exact number of quills I pulled out (not counting the little ones I may have missed), I'll send you a prize! Deadline is Wednesday at 5PM Pacific. But only the first two correct guessers get a prize.

I'll leave you with some happier pictures.

8 comments:

froglander said...

Poor Scout! Hope his nose isn't too sore :(

I'm gonna guess....19.

Jessie said...

I will guess 21.

I gasped out loud when I saw that photo of his nose with the quills in it!

Was there any blood? I can't believe he let you pull them out, did you have to sedate him?

It hurts just thinking about it!

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing 17 - poor guy - no wonder he was upset! I've never seen porcupine quills up close before - they're sort of interesting! I hope it didn't hurt him too much to get them out!

Kara said...

I guess 19 as well!

Ouch! That's a lot of quills! My horses have had them before, but usually they only get 3 or 4 in the muzzle. Chico got around 30 in his fetlock (he must have been defending his girls from the evil little pokey creature).

Scout much have REALLY been investigating that porky!

Andrea -Mustang Saga said...

It did bleed some. We didn't have to sedate him but we had to be patient. Pulling quills isn't easy! You'd almost be able to grab one and then he'd move his head. It took a little while. At the end I had John pull them while I held his head. One of them was really deep.

Lady Of Chaos said...

LOL, poor guy. I know I shouldn't laugh, but I can just see him going... hmmm what's this, sniff, OUCH, run... Poor little thing.

I'll guess 21.

nikki said...

Poor little guy! He does look pouty in that one photo. Bet he wont be playing with another one any time soon!

My guess is 18.

showbrat said...

Wow! I have never seen quills before that is very interesting and im sure a learning experience for him! I wonder if he will still scoot the cat? Let us know!
I guess 20....