Porcupine 2, dogs 0: Backcountry rescue team logs first mission to help injured canines
October 16, 2021 | Lisa Scagliotti
Waterbury Backcountry Rescue Team members Nicole Cutler and Eric LaRose carry canines Luna and Lily during their rescue mission Oct. 12 on Hunger Mountain. Photo courtesy WBRT
A fall hike on Hunger Mountain on Tuesday turned into a harrowing ordeal for a Randolph Center hiker and her two dogs whose encounter with a porcupine on their descent led to the first rescue involving non-human patients for the Waterbury Backcountry Rescue team.
Jenny Carter said she had hiked to the summit with her 10-pound Maltese mix Lily Ann Stitch and her 15-pound pomeranian-sheltie mix Luna on leash. On the way down as it appeared they had the trail to themselves, she said she thought she would give them a break and let them off. “We were the last ones on the mountain,” she said in an interview Friday. “Then they ran off into the woods.”
What happened next led to a series of events that ended with Carter and her dogs not getting home until 4:30 a.m. the next day. Carter said she heard barking, then yelps, and a whimper. “Then it went totally quiet,” she said, adding that just describing it still brought a rush of adrenaline. “I thought a bear got them.”
With daylight waning, she ventured off the trail in search of the two canines who had split up during the incident. It took nearly an hour to locate them, Carter said. Fearing what she would find, she said she was relieved to find them both alive, but they both had a number of porcupine quills. Given their injuries and the fast-approaching darkness, Carter knew she would not be able to carry them both and get safely down the trail.
She called 911. “I give the dispatcher a lot of credit for figuring this out,” she said afterward. At first, the dispatcher wasn’t sure what to do with the call given that the injured were animals. Once it was clear that their human companion was on a mountain trail in the dark, the call went to the Waterbury Backcountry Rescue Team. That was 7:21 p.m.
Eight team members responded, according to team leader Brian Lindner. “Two dogs had lost their battle with a porcupine about three-quarters of a mile up the trail,” he explained in the team’s news release. “The dogs had quills in their paws and were unable to walk down the mountain.”
As luck had it, the rescue team included volunteer vet tech Nicole Cutler who Carter said was very helpful in evaluating the dogs’ injuries and recommending how to best carry them to prevent further harm. They reached Carter and her dogs by about 8:20 p.m. and helped carry the injured dogs to the base of the trail. Shortly after 9 p.m., Carter was on her way to BEVS Burlington Emergency & Veterinary Specialists in Williston.
Carter said Lily, the smaller of the two dogs, was seriously injured with multiple quills in her chest. Vets are still concerned about her recovery, she said, because it’s possible quill fragments could migrate to her heart or lungs. She was recuperating Friday with Carter keeping a close eye on her. Luna, the larger male dog, had most of the quills in his paws and “armpits” and he also injured one leg in the ordeal, she said.
A check with Waterbury Veterinary Hospital found that Lily and Luna’s predicament has been common this year. “We have seen a huge increase in quilled pets this year. We aren't totally sure why,” said hospital manager Danielle Monette whose first tip is to not try to pull out quills on your own. “They can and will break off and continue to migrate into the body. Depending on the location of the quills, migrating into the body can be very dangerous. Quills in or near the chest can migrate into the chest which is home to vital organs (heart and lungs) or quills to the face can migrate into eyes which can cause serious issues, potentially even the pet losing their eye.”
She said to seek emergency veterinary care as soon as possible to avoid further injury. “It will cost you and your pet more in the end if you try to take matters into your own hands,” she said, adding that to best avoid the danger of a run-in, keep your dogs on leash at all times while on the trails. “Even if your pet has a strong recall, some dogs have such a strong prey drive that the recall training goes out the window when they are on the move after a small critter!”
Carter said the experience was a lesson she wants to share with other dog owners. “People laugh off porcupines,” she said. “I didn’t realize how serious it could be… Porcupines are very dangerous and very expensive.”
She also expressed much gratitude to the volunteers who helped her and her dogs off the mountain. “I can’t say enough wonderful things about Brian Lindner and his team,” she said.
Lindner said the canine rescue was the 237th mission for the backcountry team and its first-ever animal rescue.
Previous rescue on Hunger Mountain
The call was the second rescue on Hunger Mountain for the Backcountry Rescue Team in a few days. Last Saturday, Oct. 9, during peak foliage traffic and activity in town, the team was called at 6 p.m. regarding two elderly hikers near the summit of the mountain needing assistance.
A Massachusetts couple called 911 requesting help as they were lost, cold and tired, according to a rescue team news release.
“They were unsure where they were located but a ‘ping’ on their cell phone by the Vermont State Police indicated they were approximately one-half mile north of the summit,” team leader Lindner explained in the release. “This placed them on the Skyline Trail leading them towards Stowe and away from where they had parked their car.”
Initially, the couple insisted they had to continue moving to stay warm due to having inadequate fall clothing. State troopers and rescue personnel eventually convinced them to stop moving so that rescuers could maintain phone contact.
The couple had only one headlamp but they did have a “space” blanket to help shield them from winds below the summit, rescue officials said.
At 10:33 p.m. rescue team one consisting of Eric LaRose and Nathan Cutler located the couple, provided them with proper headlamps, and began the hike off the mountain with them. The pair was tired and progress was steady but slow as the group made their way back towards the summit in order to intersect with the trail leading down to the trailhead on Sweet Road in Waterbury Center.
The couple made it to the trailhead and the rescue ended at 2:10 a.m. Sunday, according to the rescue team.