This is as careful a feeding as you can get.
An online video from the Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Nova Scotia Canada shows how to successfully feed a baby porcupine without getting hurt by their quills.
Veterinarian Helene Van Doninck, who co-founded the animal sanctuary in 2001, told the Daily News the porcupine, who the staff has nicknamed “Porc” (the last porcupine was named Porcules), came to the organization earlier this month after a dog found the tiny rodent when he was just a few days old.
“The dog came back and had quills in his lips,” she said and a day later the dog returned to the spot and the family found the baby covered in mud and in need of help.
They’re not aggressive animals. We have gotten quills before but it was always our fault.
The family checked for a few days to see if the mother would return and then the facility took “Porc” in.
He came to the facility weighing about 400 grams or a little less than a pound, but a few weeks later has tripled his weight and is in line with the normal growth pattern for the porcupine, she said.
The animal is currently being fed milk and in the next few months will be introduced to greens and fruits. He is outside and living in a tree all the time except for his feeding time when he is brought inside and fed through a syringe, Van Doninck said.
CobequidWildlife’s channel/via YouTube Veterinarian Helene Van Doninck of the Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Nova Scotia feeds “Porc” using a syringe. The veterinarian said she must be very careful when handling “Porc.” She slides her hand underneath him to touch the only part of his body not covered in quills. Porcupines can’t shoot their quills at predators nut instead they will curl up to protect their vulnerable area and anyone who puts their mouth on them will end up with the needles on their lips, she said.
“As long as I don’t go in the wrong direction I won’t get quills,” she said. “They’re not aggressive animals. We have gotten quills before but it was always our fault.”
Over time “Porc” has become more familiar with the routine and is more accommodating to the process, she said. He has also become more comfortable with his surrounding and is less in need to be nurtured by the staff, she said.
If you give a them a bottle the teeth rip through the nipple and they are covered in milk. Then you have to clean them up.
The employees feed him from a syringe so they don’t have to get too close and also becauise the rodent’s big teeth make sucking from the nipple of a bottle problematic, she said.
“if you give a them a bottle the teeth rip through the nipple and they are covered in milk,” she said. “Then you have to clean them up.”
The animal should be able to be released into the wild in a few months, she said.
jlandau@nydailynews.com Follow on Twitter @joelzlandau
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