This little baby coyote really got himself in a bind when he turned up covered in cactus spines from his nose to his tail at an Arizona wildlife center.
Rescuers in Arizona say it was one of the worst cases they’ve ever seen.
The pup – maybe 4 to 6 weeks old – was found in Surprise, jabbed full of Cholla spines. Face, legs, stomach, paws. Everywhere.
Cholla’s nickname is the “jumping cactus.” Its barbed segments snap off at the lightest touch and grab whatever brushes past – perfect for turning a curious pup into a pincushion.
He was rushed to the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale, where vet tech Berkeley Martineau took one look and braced himself.
“He had spines just about everywhere,” Martineau said. “We’ve seen it in the face and paw, but this was head to tail. Everywhere. There were spines in the nose, mouth, tongue, tail, and back; it was everywhere.”
Some had driven in deep.
“You could see some of the spines had gone through the ear,” Martineau said.
Lightly sedated, the pup lay still while the team pulled the spines out one by one. It took more than two hours – and it likely saved his life.
A week later, the turnaround was something. The pup was eating, gaining strength and wrestling with other orphaned coyotes at the center.
As for how it happened, Martineau keeps it simple.
“It was probably a goofy little coyote who stumbled into the wrong cactus,” he said.
If all goes well, he’ll spend a couple of months in rehab before heading back to the wild – hopefully giving the Cholla a wide berth this time.
