Drone in cow pasture discovers life-threatening problem

On a beautiful, sunny day in Millbrook, Ontario, some cows were grazing in a meadow and a few were cooling off in the pond. A drone was filming the farm and capturing footage of the scenery and the animals. The drone operator (Dave) was up a hill beside the farmhouse, half a mile away. He had filmed these cows before and wanted to make a video of the farm, the meadows and of the cows enjoying their huge expanse of pasture. This gorgeous farm provides a life for the cows that is exactly as it should be. They have room to roam and are treated extremely well.
Dave was watching his large screen monitor and seeing what the drone was filming in real time. The cows were curious and some of them watched the drone with surprising interest, allowing a close pass around the herd. But something that Dave saw was very unexpected, and very concerning. One of the cows had a strange cluster of white on her nose. Initially, it looked like hair or fur. He brought the drone closer and closer until he could make out what it was.

The drone was set on 4K resolution and it clearly showed that there were porcupine quills sticking out of the poor cow's snout. There appeared to be dozens of them.

Dave brought the drone back and popped the SD card from the drone into his laptop computer. Zooming in on the image confirmed without a doubt that there were dozens of quills in the snout of the cow. She had to be feeling very uncomfortable with all those quills and eating must have been challenging for her. Dave could even see on the ear tag that the cow was named "Linda". Dave told the farmer what he had seen. Quills work their way into an animal and migrate to inner organs in some cases and can cause death. They can also become severely infected and cause life-threatening illness. They do not fall out on their own.

Contrary to the popular myth, North American porcupines cannot shoot their quills. They swing their back ends abruptly at animals that come too close. The result is that the quills jab into the animal that seems to be a threat, and the quills detach from the porcupine. The cow must have tried to sniff the porcupine, and her curiosity must have appeared as aggression to the frightened creature. Porcupines are not aggressive and it takes a long time for them to grow their quills. They do not have any desire to waste them unless they feel they are in danger. It is also a myth that the quills should be cut before being pulled. This doesn't do anything to make removal easier.

The farmer coaxed Linda into a pen where her head could be held still. He gave her a local anesthetic and waited until the quills could be pulled painlessly. He also applied an antibiotic to prevent infection. She was even given a big serving of oats and corn, her favorite treat. Linda was brought back to the meadow and she quickly joined her newborn calf. The next day, she was grazing happily and was feeling no after effects from her encounter with the porcupine.

Linda is part of the same herd as Flo and "Sparky" the newborn calf that was born at the edge of this pasture. He slid under the electric fence moments after birth and couldn't get back in to his mother, Flo. Flo and Sparky became famous after the video of his rescue went viral. Dave filmed as he pushed Sparky back through the fence. It was this incident that prompted Dave to return to the farm with his drone for more footage, and ultimately led to the prompt discovery of Linda’s problem.