{"id":502760,"date":"2026-02-27T09:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T09:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/502760\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T09:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T09:26:11","slug":"rescuers-cant-help-but-gush-over-naked-porcupines-incredible-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/502760\/","title":{"rendered":"Rescuers Can’t Help But Gush Over \u2018Naked\u2019 Porcupine\u2019s Incredible Comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Late last month, a Good Samaritan in Texas arrived at Austin Wildlife Rescue<\/a> (AWR) with a wild young porcupine who\u2019d been found alone and in clear distress. The animal\u2019s quills and fur were patchy and sparse, and his body was covered in dry scales.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the most intense case of mange and ringworm we have ever seen on a young porcupine,\u201d Kathryn Mattison, operations manager at AWR, told The Dodo. \u201cStaff immediately started medications and fluids.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PorcupineAustin Wildlife Rescue<\/a><\/p>\n

The porcupine was too tired and weak to even eat at first due to the skin conditions that were tormenting his body.<\/p>\n

Then, slowly but surely, everything began to change.<\/p>\n

Austin Wildlife Rescue<\/a><\/p>\n

After confirming the infection hadn\u2019t spread to his lungs, rescuers focused on aggressive antifungal and antiparasitic treatments to heal his skin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe treat with a variety of both oral and topical antifungal and antiparasitics to kill the mites, which would ultimately stop the keratin growth that appears as the \u2018fluffy skin growths\u2019 all over his body,\u201d Mattison said.<\/p>\n

This poor porcupine had plenty of them.<\/p>\n

Austin Wildlife Rescue<\/a><\/p>\n

Within days of beginning treatment, those “fluffy” growths started to flake away, revealing healthier skin underneath.<\/p>\n

Austin Wildlife Rescue<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFor most porcupine cases, we need to sedate them to give a thorough bath and remove the growths and clean the skin, however our little pokey friend was able to remove them himself whenever he would scratch,\u201d Mattison said.<\/p>\n

Austin Wildlife Rescue<\/a><\/p>\n

Before long, the flakes were few and far between \u2014 and the porcupine seemed more than happy to see them gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cMange is severely itchy, so we see a lot of scratching naturally, but we are highly impressed with how fast the medications worked and how healthy his skin was underneath,\u201d Mattison said.<\/p>\n

Now, about a month after being rescued, the porcupine is looking significantly happier and healthier.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has truly been a transformation in a matter of weeks. From a crusty creature to a naked baby that is currently rocking a killer mullet on the back,\u201d Mattison said. \u201cOn the cleaned skin, we are now starting to see quill stubble as it is fresh regrowth, which, of course, is amazing to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Austin Wildlife Rescue<\/a><\/p>\n

As the porcupine\u2019s body healed, his spirit did as well. Mostly free of those painful, itchy flakes, his personality can finally shine through.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s truly a character,\u201d Mattison said. \u201cThis little porcupine came in so weak and scared, and has flourished into quite the ham! Being so bare, he still remains in a large incubator to help him stay warm, but he runs the show in there. He likes to push his food and formula bowls over and kick back with his feet up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Austin Wildlife Rescue<\/a><\/p>\n

A few more weeks of treatment remain, but Mattison is optimistic that his transformation will only become more dramatic. It may take around a year for his fur and quills to fully fill back in, but in the meantime, he\u2019s in very good hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect him to be a candidate for release by this time next year,\u201d Mattison said.<\/p>\n

To learn more and find out how you can help, visit Austin Wildlife Rescue’s website here<\/a>.\"Porcupine<\/a>Porcupine Put In Time-Out Responds By Throwing The Most Adorable Tantrum\u201cNo matter the species, toddler tantrums are all the same.”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Late last month, a Good Samaritan in Texas arrived at Austin Wildlife Rescue (AWR) with a wild young…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502761,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,6586,106545,66,2225,18661,6584,323,20856],"class_list":{"0":"post-502760","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-daily-dodo","11":"tag-porcupine","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-standard","14":"tag-stephen-messenger","15":"tag-the-dodo","16":"tag-wildlife","17":"tag-wildlife-rescue"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}