dog meets porcupine

Living surrounded by woods means that Frank gets to be a free-range dog, and usually that's fine. He goes off exploring sometimes, but he usually stays within sight, or at least earshot, of the house. He usually comes right back when we call. I'm sure he treats himself to a snack occasionally, but he's usually sensible enough not to eat things that will make him sick. And he's usually a big coward, so although he's fascinated by other animals, he generally won't go near them unless they're much, much smaller than he is.

Note all the "usually"s in the above paragraph.

Today I'm not sure how long he was off exploring, having been shut in my office for much of the afternoon. When I noticed he was missing, I went out and shouted and shouted for him, starting to worry that today was the day he'd fought a bear, or ventured all the way down the driveway and been hit by a car or something. Finally I hear a distant crashing in the woods, getting louder as Frank runs home, and then he's there, his usual happy self, unharmed, totally oblivious to my concern. Except he keeps licking his nose. Which has a porcupine quill sticking out of it.

D got the quill out without too much trouble, and though Frank slurped down an entire bowlful of water as soon as he came into the house, otherwise he seems fine. I'm really curious, though, about what happened out there. It's one of those days I wish my dog could tell stories, because he obviously has a few to tell.