Ouch!

After about an hour of quail hunting the dog vanished. BDog had been staying in range(mostly) and then he wasn't. No tell-tale rustling of mesquite or other sound to indicate where he was and no response to calls from either of us. As we headed in the direction we had last seen him, we began to worry...rattlesnake? No, still too cold at night but you never know... a big cat? There had been no yelps, no barks...nothing. "BDaaawg, come!" M found him standing a respectful distance from this:

On closer inspection, it turns out the porcupine had tagged BDog on the chest and chin, probably with one swipe of its tail. You'll have to look closely to see the extra chin whiskers. It's not a great photo; I only had one chance before we headed to the nearby truck for a little doggy 1st aid.

After a thorough plucking, a drink and some rest while we drove to the next swath of grassland, BDog was cleared to go back into the field. Good thing, 'cause there were scalies to be retrieved. Ah... no, no lizard, dragon or snake people were harmed but a few Callipepla squamata will wind up as confit for a lovely dinner salad some night this week.