Presumably the boxer had retained a residual memory of the pain and misery he had experienced so recently with his head full of porcupine quills. Just as well for him the veterinarian was skilled in removing them; it's likely that all country vets have had more than sufficient experience removing quills from overly-inquisitive dogs.

This time she had some advance notice; the dogs did not rush toward the porcupine, they raised a howl at its presence. Not far from the house, in fact close to the tree line behind which lies herwetland. She approached the animal with caution, quickly observed that it was terrified of the presence of the dogs, and called them away, clearing them expeditiously from the immediate vicinity.

Poor thing; it was obviously a juvenile. Small, fearful, anxious for its safety in the too-near presence of all those other, threatening animals. She felt badly for the creature, although two weeks ago she had just felt rage that her favourite dog was in pain and would only allow her to remove two of the quills before it went berserk and she had to forcibly quiet it down, and take it over to the vet.

It didn't look inclined to move. She couldn't, she told herself, afford to have it hang around. Dangerous for the porky and dangerous for her dogs. So she sliced up an apple, got one of the small cages, and prodded the fearful creature into the cage. She called her daughter to come out and have a look at the pitiable thing that had caused them so much grief. Her daughter was upset, said her mother should just have left the poor little thing alone.

She spoke quietly, gently to the porcupine, wondering where its parents were; just abandoned their youngster did they, she thought? So it had to fend for itself. Had neglected to teach their offspring cautionary tactics, to make itself scarce in the face of potential danger?

They got in the car with the caged porcupine, drove a few miles away, closer to non-human-habitable areas of more frequent wetlands interspersed with denser forest, and stopped the car. Out came the cage, and they carried it some distance from the road, through the bracken.

Opening the door of the cage, they both spoke words of encouragement to the cowering animal. Until it finally amassed sufficient courage to waddle out of the cage and slowly increase the distance between them and itself.