By dylerbiller - 10/01/2015 07:00 - United States

Today, three weeks after my sister took in a wounded porcupine from our backyard and let it roam about the house, I learned that it sheds quills from time to time. How did I learn this? By stepping on three of said quills hidden in the carpet. I still have only managed to pull one out. FML
I agree, your life sucks 33 634
You deserved it 2 757

dylerbiller tells us more.

Hi everyone. OP here. Hopefully I can clear things up for some people. The reason we didn't take "porky" to the animal shelter right away was because the closest one was a three hour drive away. He is there now safe and sound and I went to the doctors and got the other two quills removed. I actually posted this FML while in the Urgent Care waiting room for those of you who were wondering why I would go on here right after all this happening. Well, that's about it. My foot is a bit sore and I have vacuumed the floor 7 times just to be safe. But I'm alright. Thanks for all the support!

Top comments

Their quills are barbed. Be careful pulling them out, you could do some serious dmg to your foot.

Sounds like you're in a bit of a prickle

Comments

Just put it in a cage so you don't randomly wound yourself.

You should call the zoo or the ppl who take care of wild animals

Okay wild animals do not belong in people's homes. Call animal control they'll be able to find a sanctuary for the little guy so he can be reintroduced to the wild eventually.

So you decided it was more important to post it 1st on FML rather than removing the remaining 2 quills...interesting priorities.

You do realise that this could have happened days or even weeks ago, right?

And how does that matter exactly, False_Stupidity? It doesn't change the fact that the FML post was explicitly made before the rest of them were out, which is the only thing that was brought up here.

"Should I pull the other two spikes out of my feet, or should I just go on FML?"

Hiimhaileypotter 52

Orrrr maybe this (gasp!) didn't actually happen right when it was posted. Crazy thought, I know!

Except it specifically did happen right when it was posted. They said in the entry itself they hadn't removed the rest of the quills at time of posting.

don't just pull them out! you have to cut the end that's not in your foot. they're hollow and filled with air. cut the end and it will just slide out. lil bit of experience with that....

NoCs 1

Yes they are hollow, yes they have air inside BUT cutting the end does not help! Quills are barbed. Cutting the end off does not make the barbed part disappear. It makes no difference, You still need to yank the quill out firmly. Cutting the quill is a myth.

Cut the quills. Once they are cut they start to shrink and then you can pull them out easier, or go to a doctor

NoCs 1

No cutting the end of the quill off will not make it shrink. That makes no sense. The quill is barbed and needs to be yanked out firmly. Cutting the end off to release air is a myth or old wives tale.

Er, porcupine quills aren't made of some kind of inflatable material. They wouldn't be very sharp if they were soft enough to puff up with air.

OP, you need to grow a SPINE and tell your sister not to be such a PRICK by letting a wounded wild animal run loose in the house. If you don't have free health care then make her pay for getting the quills removed. You could also leave the porcupine in your sisters bed for a while as a form of evil yet justified revenge.